AFL player Allen Christensen has been nominated for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame after admitting to a serious gambling addiction which plagued the early years of his career.
The current Brisbane Lions player confessed to spending thousands of dollars on sports gambling while he was a young player at Geelong and to almost destroying his career as a result of his addiction.
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.
Christensen looks to have turned his life around at the Lions, and his off-field form in Brisbane will determine whether he is inducted into The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame later this year.
Image:NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 