NRL bosses are dealing with yet another nomination for The Frownlow Medal after Brisbane player Payne Haas was recently stood down by the Broncos.
Haas was suspended for four games and fined following news that he had refused to cooperate with the NRL integrity unit while he was being investigated for two violent off-field incidents.
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. NRL player Shaun Kenny-Dowall won the inaugural medal in 2015 and code-swapper Karmichael Hunt was the most recent recipient.
The exact details of the incidents are not known and are unlikely to be released as it is a legal matter, but it is definitely another notch in the belt of the NRL as they attempt to defeat the other major football codes in the race for The Frownlow Medal.
The likelihood of an NRL player winning the prestigious award yet again is very strong, after nominations to Jack de Belin, Dylan Walker, Dylan Napa, Zane Musgrove, Michael Chee-Kam, Jacob Saifiti, Corey Norman, Scott Bolton and Tautatu Moga, as well as Jarryd Hayne and Ben Barba. In response, Kurtley Beale mounted a soft challenge for Super Rugby, while Majak Daw, Patrick Wilson, Marley Williams and perennial nominee Harley Bennell launched challenges for the AFL.
Not one player from the A-League has been nominated.
To find out more about the nominees for this highly coveted award, go to http://www.instagram.com/thefrownlowmedal.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 