Ambrose Morgan was known as The King of Redfern but the former rugby league player died young after a life of hard knocks and controversy. Morgan earns his nomination for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame after serving time in prison for armed robbery and is already revered in the Redfern community for his success with the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
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 AFL player 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.
Morgan only played a handful of games with the Rabbitohs, but did enough to earn comparisons with the great Arthur Beetson. He supplemented his income by working as a bouncer at a nightclub and other odd jobs, and it was in a nightclub that he was eventually shot dead while still a young man.
The story of Ambrose Morgan is an all too familiar tale of footballing talent gone to waste.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 