Former NRL player Danny Williams has joined The Fronwlow Medal Wife Beaters Club after pleading guilty to glassing a woman at a bar.
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 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.
According to media reports, Williams was at a bar in Sydney when a woman objected to his singing and threw a beer in his face. It is alleged that Williams then smashed a beer glass on the woman’s head, leaving her with a laceration. She did not require hospital treatment.
The former Melbourne Storm and North Sydney Bears player pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He joins a long list of players who have assaulted women and entered The Fronwlow Medal Wife Beaters Club:
NRL
Kenny Edwards
Zane Tetevano
Ben Barba
Jake Friend
Anthony Watts
Isaac Gordon
Richie Fa’aoso
Anthony Cherrington
Addin Fonua-Blake
Kirisome Auva’a
Jarryd Hayne
Jamil Hopoate
Joel Romelo
Matt Lodge
Stuart Webb
Curtis Scott
Danny Williams
AFL
Elijah Taylor
Nick Stevens
Liam Jurrah
Andrew Lovett
Wayne Carey
Albert Proud
Nathan Bock
Rugby Union
Craig Wells
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 