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 Shaun Kenny-Dowall won the inaugural medal in 2015 before Corey Norman in 2016 and Tim Simona in 2017.
The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame honours former players and players who received media attention in previous seasons, for similarly scandalous behaviour, and its inductees include Ben Cousins and Julian O’Neill.
Roe pleaded guilty to possessing and selling a commercial amount of cannabis in 2015 in the Northern Territory.
The drugs were apparently sold to another former AFL player, Heath Culpitt, but did not attract a severe punishment after Roe’s lawyer, Peter Maley, argued that the former Brisbane Lion had been exposed to the drug whole working for a mining company and that,
“He’s the picture of role model for Indigenous Australians.”
Image:Nuna
First published in April, 2018.
The Frownlow Medal 