It’s time to support Taylan May and ensure he stays in the NRL.
Why?
Because he’s the favourite to win The Frownlow Medal in 2024.
May risks losing his contract with the Penrith Panthers for disciplinary reasons but this would deny him the chance to win the Frownlow courtesy of his domestic violence charges. Only current first-grade footballers can win The Fronwlow Medal and Taylan will have wasted all the hard work he allegedly put into abusing his partner.
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.
May is currently facing the sack due to multiple disciplinary issues. He might throw away a 1.2-million-dollar deal because he used foul language on social media, and appeared again on social media as the passenger in a car driving 96km/h in a school zone.
It would be such a shame to see him throw away his medal chances along with his contract.
May is favourite for the Frownlow due to multiple charges of domestic violence which led to his second nomination for The Fronwlow Medal. The most recent minor issues constitute his third nomination.
Having trouble keeping up?
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May was recently arrested for an alleged domestic violence incident and he has been stood down by the Panthers. It may keep him out of the game for good and see him miss more than the handful of games and the Grand Final win that he watched from the sidelines in 2022.
Many rugby league fans reached out to the talented winger and centre when he was forced out of the game while his teammates conquered all before them, but even at that time he was surrounded by the controversy of assaulting a young man in 2021, which earned him his first Frownlow nomination. He faced court on charges of assaulting a young fan while out celebrating the Grand Final win with Panthers teammates, in an act described as ‘cowardly’.
If May is kicked out, he’d only qualify for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame; still an enormous honour but everyone knows that the medal is prize to win. It is an individual honour with only nine past winners. The hall of fame inducts around 10 former players every year.
Yes, it’s the medal everyone wants.
If May is kicked out, he would also join his brother in earning this honour. Tyrone, also a star of the Panthers, was kicked out a few years ago for various offences, including sharing explicit images of a woman online without her consent. A third May brother plays in the NRL, and came very close to a Frownlow nomination recently before his club managed to successfully deny the alleged misdemeanour.
Minor disciplinary issues do not win The Frownlow Medal. Violence against women does. Jarryd Hayne, Ben Barba and Elijah Taylor all used some form of violence against women to win their medals.
The coming months will determine if May stays on the pitch and whether he earns his invite to the awards night as a nominee for the medal or the hall of fame.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 