NRL Player Latrell Mitchell, regarded as the best centre in the world, has been nominated for The Frownlow Medal after being fined by police for alleged involvement in a bar brawl.
Mitchell was involved in a fight at a pub on the NSW mid-north coast and the incident is now being investigated by the NRL, after he was served by police with a criminal infringement notice.
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.
Mitchell was socialising with friends at a bar near his home town and is reported to have become involved in a fight between his friends and another group of people. Reports indicate that Mitchell refused to leave the bar when asked. As a result, the Sydney Roosters have launched an investigation into the incident and the NRL is also set to investigate.
Mitchell is one of the young superstars of Rugby League, and features in a NRL promotion of A New Era of the sport. Now that Mitchell has been nominated for The Frownlow Medal, is he part of the new era, or part of the old era of scandal-prone players that the NRL was trying to distance itself from?
The next few months will determine exactly what happened at the bar near Taree, and will also determine whether Mitchell’s off-field indiscretion is enough to win him The Frownlow Medal.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 