Former NRL player Chris Caruana has been nominated for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame after admitting to drug addiction and attempted suicide.
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.
Caruana played for the North Sydney Bears in the ARL and the Rabbitohs in the NRL, and spiralled out of control after retiring from professional football. He recently admitted to a devastating ice addiction which left him homeless and on the brink of suicide.
The former outside back says he was so addicted to the drug that he went without food and without sleep for up to two weeks. He also admitted to spending about $3000 per week on the addiction and that this led to two attempts to take his own life.
‘It’s a very, very nasty drug. It took away a part of my soul which I’ve got back. But longest I’ve – was you know, I was awake for was probably 12 days – the longest I didn’t eat was probably 14 days. I lost probably 24 kilos in 12 months,’ he told the media in 2023.
Now clean for three years, Caruana wants to raise awareness of the dangers of the drug, and waht better place to do so than at the awards night for The Frownlow Medal and The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame, where he will be surrounded by former and current footballers.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 