NRL player Samuela Fainu has finally revealed why he swapped seats after being pulled over by police.
“I want to be like my big brother. I want to win the Frownlow,” he explained.
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.
Fainu committed the offence, and many others, in order to emulate Manase, and has dedicated his life to this goal.
The 19-year-old applied himself to his sport, and was recently offered a $4 million deal with the Wests Tigers. He then set about amassing a police record.
Since gaining his licence, he has committed seven speeding offences and three counts of driving while disqualified or suspended.
In June this year, he was caught while driving disqualified, just 15 days after he had his licence disqualified while driving suspended. He thought on his feet and swapped seats in an attempt to fool police into thinking he wasn’t driving, and to add to the severity of the offence. Samuela knows that driving offences do not win a Frownlow.
Samuela has inside knowledge. Manase is on the inside for stabbing a man outside a Mormon church, so Samuela is well aware that multiple, repeat offences are needed to win the biggest prize in Australian sport if he can’t commit one major crime.
Samuela pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a 12-month community correction order, with his licence disqualified for a further six months. He must now commit further offences before the end of the year if he wants to take the medal, because he is up against the likes of fellow NRL player Talatau Amone, who was found guilty of attacking a man with a hammer.
The Fainu brothers are not the first siblings to be nominated for Frownlow honours, but they would be the first to both win The Frownlow Medal if Samuela can do so in 2023.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 