Former Rugby League player Les Mara has been coaxed out of hiding for The Frownlow Medal awards night after being nominated for the hall of fame.
Mara famously evaded police for years but could not escape the judges of The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame who are determined to award him for his life of crime.
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 Talatau Amone 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.
Mara was a crafty five-eighth for the Balmain Tigers, South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Newtown Jets, and put his cunning and guile to good use as a drug smuggler upon retirement from Rugby League. He was thought to be the mastermind of a syndicate responsible for the importation of more than 20 kilograms of cocaine into Australia from South America, and reportedly paid off baggage handlers to help him move his product.
He was also brilliant at evading police. For years they thought he was hiding out in a far-flung corner of South America or Ireland, but he was actually enjoying the good life in the idyllic beachside town of Callala Bay on the NSW South Coast. He was eventually arrested in 2006.
During the court case into the arrest, Mara’s lawyer urged the judge to take into account many factors, including the fact that
“…Mr Mara was a first-grade footballer, he played for various clubs in Sydney in the 70s and early 80s…” as if being a footballer afforded him a degree of integrity. The Frownlow Medal proves that being a high-profile athlete certainly doesn’t imply integrity.
Further evidence is the rumour that Mara beat the stuffing out of fellow Rugby League player Ricky Montgomery in Lithgow jail.
It was not actually very difficult to convince Mara to attend the Frownlow awards night. He was told he could do whatever he wanted, in plain sight, and that he’d be surrounded by footballers eager to buy his South American merchandise.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 