Dustin Martin has earned his second nomination for The Fronwlow Medal in 2022 with a video that is even more creepy than the act which earned him his first nomination of the year.
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 NRL star Jarryd Hayne is the most recent recipient.
The AFL hero appears in a video sent to the children of a man who is accused of assaulting their mother.
The Whatsapp video was allegedly sent on behalf of Victorian construction union head John Setka, who has been accused of domestic violence against his estranged wife, who is in crisis care. In the video, Martin offers to take the children out for lunch when he gets back from holidays, and the woman believes it was an attempt to pressure her children, who are Richmond Tigers fans.
Sources from within the union movement stated that Setka had no contact with Martin “and definitely didn’t ask him or ask anyone else to get a video made.”
Setka also denies the allegations of violence, while the domestic violence organisation said in writing that Setka posed an “imminent risk” to the family’s safety. The estranged wife stated:
“I’ve ceased contact between him and the children because of the effect his verbal and emotional abuse is having on the children,” she said. “Yet John Setka is still trying to contact me via WhatsApp and via Dustin Martin.”
Martin’s video proves that Australian children should be vaccinated against professional footballers, and is even more creepy than his first scandal of the year. On the eve of a final’s match between Richmond and Brisbane, an old video was released which showed Martin touching a woman’s bare breasts from behind before walking away laughing. The amateur video, which was taken in a club many years ago, earned Martin the nickname Titty Fiddler.
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The Frownlow Medal 