NRL player Tyrone May always has his leaked sex tape close at hand in case he needs some light relief or another nomination for The Frownlow Medal.
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, while AFL player Elijah Taylor is the most recent recipient.
May had plenty of time to watch the video in 2019, when the NRL stood him down for the entire season, and he is known to use it to psyche himself up for big games or to relax after a gruelling training session.
In 2018, May was punished for filming and distributing a sex tape without consent. This is the same tape he referred to on social media while celebrating the Panthers grand final win.
The instagram post quotes lyrics from a song by rapper Drake:
“And the dirt that they threw on my name/turned to soil and I grew up out it/time for y’all to figure out what y’all gon’ do about it,”
He accompanied the lyrics with a picture of himself arriving at Parramatta Local Court for his trial. The same trial in which he pleaded guilty to committing the crime, for which he missed the 2019 season in accordance with the NRL’s no-fault stand down policy. He was also given a three-year good behaviour bond and ordered to perform 300 hours of community service.
On the most recent post, Panthers teammate Stephen Crichton wrote,
“They hate but then they all copy.”
It’s not clear who they are or what they copy, but May’s post also drew support from Spencer Leniu, Nathan Cleary, James Fisher-Harris, Viliame Kikau, Brian To’o, Moses Leota and Apisai Koroisau.
Most of these players comprise May’s post-game prayer group and are devout Christians.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 