Jayden Nikorima and Siosiua Taukeiaho may have submitted the worst sick note in history. So bad they lost their jobs and earned a nomination for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
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.
The former NRL players reportedly skipped a training session with Catalans Dragons in France to attend a concert in England.
They pretended to be ill so that they could attend the concert, and also missed a France-England international match in Toulouse which the entire Catalans team attended together.
It is not known which concert they attended. Are they Swifties? Was it death metal, hip hop? Who knows?
It’s also not known whether they asked their mums to write the note – or if their dogs ate their homework.
What is known is that they were sacked by the Dragons.
This is not Nikorima’s first sacking.
His services were no longer required at the Sydney Roosters in 2017 after he failed a second drug test with the NRL club. He was subsequently given a 12-game suspension and could not find another NRL club – hence the move to Europe.
The Catalans sacking is a big fall from grace for Taukeiaho, who was once one of the best forwards in the world, and for Nikorima, who was an Australian schoolboys representative.
Will they attend the awards for The Frownlow Medal and The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame later this year, or will they have a sick note for that as well?
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 