Rhys Palmer has achieved the impossible and earned the most bizarre nomination in the history of The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
The former AFL player recently threw his shoes on to the track of a harness race in Perth while the horses were running, and was apprehended by security. The harness race was able to continue and no horse or rider was injured despite the flying shoes.
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 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.
This truly perplexing act surpasses previous bizarre acts which earned Frownlow nominations, such as Julian O’Neill’s ‘Poo in a Shoe’, Robert Dipierdomenico tweeting his condolences for the death of Ben Cousins, and Ben Kennedy’s entry into a high security government facility late at night with no shoes or shirt on. It even surpasses the porn images which popped up on Jarryd Hayne’s computer while he was delivering a cyber-safety talk to school kids, and Michael Johnson’s pants down assault of a school teacher in a kebab shop.
Palmer has earned the title of the most bizarre nomination and has thrown his hat into the ring for induction into the select club alongside some of the greats of Australian football.
AFL fans and judges of The Frownlow Medal are all asking why Palmer felt compelled to throw his shoes onto a race track, and are hoping he will answer this question when he attends the awards ceremony for The Frownlow Medal and The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame later this year.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 