Former NRL player Chris Sandow has his sights set on The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame after earning his second nomination since retiring from football.
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 men’s and women’s 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 Ezra Mam 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.
Sandow was this time nominated for a charge of obstructing police in 2024. He was found to be driving without a licence disqualified by a court order and during the arrest he obstructed police in their duties.
During court proceedings, the magistrate told him:
“Don’t think that you can just go down to the shop to drive, because most police cars have scanners on them operating the whole time,”
“Don’t come back before the court.”
The court heard that Sandow resisted arrest and shouted at bystanders to film the incident. He then kicked the police car for several minutes after his arrest. Not for the first time in his life, he was lucky to avoid jail time.
The police prosecutor told the court Sandow was subject to a suspended sentence at the time of both incidents and called for the sentence to be activated.
The skilful haflback and 2008 Dally M Rookie of the Year was in contention for the hall of fame in 2022, after being involved in a street fight in his hometown of Cherbourg (QLD) and for assaulting police.
In 2022, he was charged with serious assault of a police officer causing bodily harm, serious assault of a police officer or person acting in aid of police officer, two counts of obstructing police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, two counts of driving without a licence, and evasion.
He was acquitted of the charges of assaulting police but pleaded guilty to the other offences. He was also sentenced to 15 months in jail and suspended for 30 months for an unrelated offence in 2021. This saw him sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid community services within a year and disqualified him from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for two years.
The former Rabbitoh and Eel is thus a prime candidate for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 