Former NRL player Braith Anasta has been nominated for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame and the nomination will take effect immediately. The former half was nominated for driving on a suspended licence and will be in contention for Frownlow honours in 2019.
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.
Anasta’s team had asked the judges of Australia’s most prestigious sporting award to delay the nomination in light of the strong competition for places in the hall of fame this year. Already in 2019, players from across the four codes have been nominated for assault, domestic violence, gambling, drug and alcohol addiction as well as drug supply, burglary, imprisonment, drink driving and throwing shoes onto a race track during a harness race. Then, of course, there is Ben Kennedy, who somehow broke into a high-security government facility one night while wearing thongs and shorts, and told police he had no idea how he got there.
Frownlow judges refused to delay the nomination, reminding Anasta and his team that the fight for places in the hall of fame is likely to be just as strong next year.
Anasta eventually accepted the decision, and will now keep a keen eye on this page until later in the year, when he will find out if he has earned a place in The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 