Some gossip is gossip. Some gossip is true. The gossip about Reni Maitua is hot enough to earn him a nomination for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
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.
The former NRL player was involved in a brawl outside Hot Gossip nightclub in Brisbane in 2014 and it certainly set tongues wagging. He and his Samoa teammates were fined $10,000 and stood down for one game for their involvement in the brawl, but Maitua was still allowed to play for Samoa later in the tournament. This despite many other controversies during his playing career.
The international was already on a warning after assaulting a taxi driver in 2013. He apologised on social media and claimed he pushed the driver rather than struck him.
As early as 2008 he had his contract with Canterbury terminated after he failed to attend training, and only a year later he played just eight games with the Sharks before being banned for two years for testing positive to a banned substance.
The topic on everyone’s lips now is what Maitua will do at the awards night for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame later this year.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 