Parramatta player Peni Terepo has been nominated for The Frownlow Medal after being charged with drink driving and refusing a blood alcohol test.
The Eels player was caught drink driving in Auckland and then refused to submit to a police breath test after he had crashed the car. Worse still, he didn’t actually tell his club, and employer, that it had happened. As a result, he has been stood down by the Eels.
The Frownlow Medal is awarded to the player whose off-field demeanour epitomises the values of the modern day footballer and draws attention to the status of footballers as role models to young Australians. It covers Australia’s four major football codes; the National Rugby League (NRL), Australian Football League (AFL), the A-League (Football) and Rugby Union’s Super Rugby competition. Kiwi international and Sydney Roosters player Shaun Kenny Dowall won the inaugural medal in 2015, while Corey Norman from the Parramatta Eels won in 2016.
Terepo is now the fourth Eels player to be nominated for the 2017 edition of the award, before the Auckland Nines have even begun, and is looking to keep the medal in Parramatta hands after Norman’s outstanding effort in 2016.
First published in January 2017
Image: Nuna
The Frownlow Medal 