Fremantle Dockers need to lock up the bar fridge – and hide the car keys. Three of their players have been caught drink driving in recent years and have earned nominations for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
Leno Thomas, Cameron McCarthy and Jason Carter were all caught drink driving and are now in the running for the biggest prize in Australian sport.
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 Manase Fainu 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.
Thomas was a promising rookie who threw away his AFL career with an incident in late 2019. He was stopped by police in Kununurra, WA, while visiting family, and parted ways with the club soon after.
Carter was caught in 2020, and was suspended for five matches. He was also ordered away from the club and didn’t play many more games for Fremantle.
McCarthy, meanwhile, showed the youngsters how it’s done. The former player recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.414 while driving in southwest WA, eight times over the legal limit. He was fined $2500, had his licensed disqualified for 10 months and was ordered to pay police costs of $264.
The Dockers need to find the key to the bar fridge, while Thomas, Carter and McCarthy need to split the cost of an Uber to get to the Frownlow awards night later this year.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 