Former AFL player Daryn Cresswell has placed a lazy $100 on himself to enter The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame in 2018.
Cresswell earned his nomination for spending time in prison after forging a signature in an effort to erase a gambling debt which led to him cheating on his wife, walking out on his family, becoming bankrupt and attempting suicide.
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.
Cresswell forged a signature on a property deal which he had hoped would help him to pay off gambling debts that had risen to more than 1 million dollars. Gambling had consumed his life to the extent that he was betting up to $250,000 in one day.
During the period in which he was gambling heavily, Cresswell also cheated on his wife with a Kiwi backpacker, left his wife and kids for another woman and only told the girlfriend that he already had a family once the plane left the tarmac for The UK, where the couple had planned to start a new life.
The addiction also sent him bankrupt and caused him to attempt suicide on more than one occasion.
The former Swans midfielder recently confessed his sins to the media in an attempt to get his life back on track. At the same time, he was reported as saying,
“Gambling is a real problem in the AFL…it seemed like just about every second person in authority, from coaches to managers, had an interest in horse racing.”
Image:Nuna
The Frownlow Medal 