Manly has so many reasons to be proud.

The Manly Sea Eagles understand pride. So much so that three of their players recently showed their support for a man found guilty of stabbing someone.

Josh Schuster, Josh Aloiai and Haumole Olakau’atu made a 61 symbol during a televised game to show their support for former teammate Manase Fainu who was recently found guilty of stabbing someone outside a Mormon church dance in 2019. The players were apparently displaying their pride in the Sydney suburb of Guildford, postcode 2161, where Fainu and other players grew up. The gesture also earns the players a nomination for The Fronwlow Medal.

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 Jarryd Hayne is the most recent recipient.

61 also refers to suburb-related gang violence in Sydney’s west, which is connected to the argument which led to Fainu stabbing another man.

The same players recently refused to wear the Manly pride jersey in support of the LGBTQIA+ community because this conflicts with their strict religious beliefs, proving that ‘PRIDE’ takes many different forms at Manly.

Another player to publicly support Fainu was New Zealand Warriors player Addin Fonua-Blake, the same Addin Fonua-Blake who was inducted into The Fronwlow Medal Hall of Fame after being found guilty of domestic violence.

Olakau’atu made the symbol to celebrate scoring a try in Manly’s embarrassing loss to the Gold Coast Titans, and after all this controversy, the try was disallowed because Olakau’atu had knocked the ball on.

This year Manly has bungled the pride jersey, seen a former player found guilty of stabbing – and publicly supported on national TV, they have lost convincingly to the team in 16th, and finished out of the top 8. Many NRL fans will be very, very happy.

Image: NuNa

Brett Finch moves one step closer.

Former NRL player Brett Finch has moved one step closer to the greatest prize in Australian sport after pleading guilty to sending child abuse material. Finch has dramatically increased his chances of being inducted into The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame after being nominated for the honour earlier this year.

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 State of Origin player and gambling ambassador pleaded guilty to sending child abuse material using an adult phone chat service, while a further six charges were withdrawn by prosecutors.

He was arrested in December 2021 under allegations that he was part of a child abuse material ring using an adult phone chat service. During the court proceedings, his lawyer told reporters Finch was seeking treatment for mental health issues, but even that may not be enough to avoid severe punishment for the crime.

The guilty plea marks a remarkable downfall for Finch. He played State of Origin for NSW and was a very popular player at club level. He was known as a ‘great bloke’ in the rugby league community and was the public face of sports gambling company PointsBet.

He must return to court in September, when he will receive the verdict and find out if he ends up in prison and in The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.

Image: Getty Images

EXCLUSIVE: Inside the Newcastle Knights.

EXCLUSIVE: Details of the Newcastle Knights Mad Monday celebrations have been leaked exclusively to The Frownlow Medal from sources inside the club.

The leak outlines why Bradman Best and Enari Tuala were late for the team bus recently, and follows the circulation of a video showing Kalyn Ponga and Kurt Mann being removed from a toilet cubicle.

Best and Tuala were stood down after arriving late for the team bus on the day of the game against the Broncos in Brisbane. It can now be revealed why they were late:

Captain Cubicle’s Giant Treasure Hunt

The treasure hunt is the centrepiece of this year’s Mad Monday celebrations, which Ponga started planning after being sidelined with concussion, as soon as the Knights had no chance of playing finals.

The anonymous source within the club has revealed that Ponga and Mann were in the toilet cubicle a long way from Suncorp Stadium, in order to plant the first clue for the treasure hunt. Ponga was there in his role as team captain, while Mann is the trustworthy utility who does whatever the team needs.

“That’s why they were fully clothed, drinks in hand in the cubicle together,” explained the source.

Captain Cubicle and Mann Monday left a clue, so Best and Tuala teamed up to search for similar clues in a toilet cubicle in Brisbane, after seeing the video of their teammates on the nightly news. As crafty and skillful outside backs, they deduced that toilet cubicles are the best place to start looking for clues. They lost track of time and were late for the bus.

Even Captain Cubicle’s father got in on the act.

Andre Ponga told the media:

“He made an exciting house purchase Saturday and celebrated with a few mates drinking,” before claiming that Kalyn was…

“Sick in the toilet and his mate went in to help him.”

But this was all just a distraction aimed at keeping players like Tuala and Best off the scent. After all, Mad Monday doesn’t begin until September 4, so Ponga Jr doesn’t want players finding the treasure too soon.

The source also indicated that club great Andrew Johns is part of Captain Cubicle’s party planning team, while the Knights new NRLW recruit Millie Boyle was consulted because she is very familiar with the inside of a toilet cubicle.

Image: NuNa

Broken Jaw Earns Matthew Jaensch a Nomination for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.

A drunken brawl at an Adelaide pub left Matthew Jaensch with a broken jaw and a nomination for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame. The former Adelaide Crows player engaged in the scuffle at the General Havelock Hotel after a few too many drinks in 2011.

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. Former NRL player Shaun Kenny-Dowall won the inaugural medal in 2015, while NRL star Jarryd Hayne is the latest recipient.

Jaensch eventually reached a settlement with the man who broke his jaw but this was not the end of his Frownlow story. He received further nominations after a one-week suspension for staying out late with teammate Bernie Vince in 2010 and was also arrested for drink driving. Jaensch was apparently three times of the legal limit and as a result lost his licence for six months.

A broken jaw and two more separate incidents places Jaensch in a good position for induction into The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame, but he faces strong competition from some of Australia’s footballing greats, whose exploits can be seen at www.instagram.com/thefrownlowmedal/

Image: NuNa

Manase Fainu can finally celebrate.

The wait is over for former NRL player Manase Fainu. He can now celebrate his favouritism for The Fronwlow Medal after being found guilty of stabbing a man.

Fainu has waited patiently for his court case to conclude after being charged with stabbing a man outside a Mormon church dance in October 2019. The serious charge earned him nominations for Australian sport’s highest honour in 2019, 2020 and 2021, but the case was delayed due to COVID-19 lockdowns.

The former Manly hooker was found guilty of wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and faces a maximum of 25 years in prison. During court proceedings, the jury heard that he used a steak knife to stab church youth leader Faamanu Levi, after the pair became involved in an altercation during a church event, and Levi suffered a punctured lung and internal bleeding.

Fainu argued that he couldn’t have committed the crime because he was wearing a sling due to shoulder surgery, but it was the sling which apparently helped eye witnesses identify him as the perpetrator.

Fainu seems to have thrown away his NRL career, and the best years of his life, and will have to console himself with his favouritism for The Fronwlow Medal. That said, victory is not guaranteed. 5 months is a long time in football, and players are capable of all sorts of off-field scandals. Let’s not forget, Jarryd Hayne won in 2021 for rape, and Elijah Taylor in 2020 for domestic violence.

As an aside, one has to wonder. If Fainu had still been playing for Manly, would he have worn the pride jersey?

The talented rookie may appeal the decision so that he can attend the awards night for The Frownlow Medal and The Frowlnow Medal Hall of Fame in person.

Image: Getty Images

Leigh Matthews Breaks All the Rules.

Legendary AFL player and coach Leigh Matthews has forced the judges of The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame to break with years of tradition and nominate him for an incident which occurred on the field of play.

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 Jarryd Hayne is the most recent recipient.

Football heroes typically receive nominations for drunken brawls, public urination, assault, domestic violence, social media mishaps, imprisonment, drug offences or drink driving- all of which occur off the field of play.

Matthews earned his nomination, however, because the punch which broke the jaw of Geelong’s Neville Bruns in 1985 was deemed so severe that he was charged with ‘assault causing grievous bodily harm’.

The punch and the police charge saw Matthews de-registered from Hawthorn for four matches and earned him the nickname ‘Lethal’.

Matthews went on to forge a hugely successful career as a coach with Collingwood and Brisbane in the AFL and won premierships with both teams. He was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame but he is yet to be inducted into The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.

Image: Getty Images

Victor Radley to lie back and think of England.

Victor Radley will have to lie back and think of England next time he gets excited about representative football after learning that his soft hands are no longer welcome in the NSW dressing rooms.

Radley recently demonstrated his love for one of his Blues teammates, and the gesture has earned him his second nomination for The Fronwlow Medal.

Radley was issued with a suspended fine after being caught on camera performing a lewd act on Blues teammate Joseph Suaalii after the siren sounded on game 2 of State of Origin. He waited for the cameras to focus on him, then mimicked an explicit hand gesture on fellow Sydney Rooster Suaalii before reeling away laughing.

“Everyone wants to get their hands on young Joseph,” Radley said in his defence, “not just me. I was just showing him how much everyone in the Blues camp loves him and why he should stay in league and not go to union, no matter how much they pay him.”

“I took one for the team to try to make him a Blue for life. I don’t know if Joe’s into that sort of thing, but, you know, I’m here for him, whatever he needs. Plus, you know what, I don’t regret it, and I’ll do it in the Roosters dressing room as well if I have to. I’ll do it after every game, before every game and even at half time if I have to just to keep the young bloke in our sport.”

It may be Radley’s final act in a Blues jersey, as he recently declared his international allegiance to England and this could make him ineligible for State of Origin, and ineligible to share a representative dressing room with Suaalii.

Strangely enough, it is not as bizarre as Radley’s first Frownlow nomination. In 2021, he was nominated for tackling someone. Yes, a rugby league player was punished for tackling someone. The back-rower was suspended for two games after tackling a person in the street outside a house party in Byron Bay late one evening and issued with a suspended $20,000 fine.

Suaalii has not been invited to the awards night for The Fronwlow Medal and The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame later this year, but Radley is sure to find many more wayward footballers keen to live out their homoerotic fantasies.

Image: http://www.nswrl.com.au

Jai Arrow’s dog makes history.

Jai Arrow’s dog has become the first pet to earn its owner a nomination for The Fronwlow Medal after it mauled another dog to death.

Arrow’s staffordshire terrier killed a dog on the NSW Central Coast just months after it brutally attacked another dog in Sydney. The dog, named Thor, attacked a greyhound in Bateau Bay when a friend of Arrow’s was caring for it, and the attack was so savage that the victim was rushed to the vet where it died.

The first time the dog viciously attacked another pet involved another NRL player. On that occasion, fellow Rabbitoh Liam Knight was walking Thor when it attacked a miniature schnauzer on Bronte Beach. The schnauzer was left with injuries that included her fur being ripped off in places revealing the flesh beneath, and left its owner with a $10,000 vet bill following the mauling.

Dogs are not allowed on Bronte Beach.

This incident also earned Thor an official classification as a dangerous dog by Waverley Council. This requires the dog to wear a muzzle and be secured with a leash. In addition, the owner must notify the local council if the dog is to be moved out of the local government area. Arrow can not prove that he notified council the dog would be taken to the Central Coast.

Both Rabbitohs now earn their second nomination for The Frownlow Medal. Knight was caught speeding on his P Plates in 2016. The speeding forced the police to follow him, and they discovered he’d been drinking as well, but to hide the alcohol on his breath he sprayed Aeroguard in his mouth. It didn’t work and he was charged with high-range drink driving.

Arrow, meanwhile, was caught smuggling an unknown woman into Queensland’s State of Origin camp in 2021, thus cheating on his partner and breaching strict COVID-19 biosecurity protocols.

Arrow and Knight have also proven that people with pet dogs are more caring and considerate.

Image: http://www.dailytelegraph.com

More NRL players to boycott Women In League Round.

EXCLUSIVE: The NRL is reeling from the news that more players will boycott games during Women In League round due to their personal convictions.

The players have followed the lead of the Manly Seven but are protesting gender equality instead of inclusion and diversity. Manly lost a vital game to the Sydney Roosters on Friday night after 7 of their starting players refused to wear a rainbow jersey, and are in danger of missing the top 8. The ensuing protests could see more teams miss out on finals footy.

The annual Women In League round pays tribute to all women involved in rugby league and promotes the rights of women in society in general, but this does not align with the personal values or past actions of the following players:

Addin Fonua-Blake: The Warriors strong man lost his contract with the Dragons in 2016 after pleading guilty to charges of domestic assault against his partner.

Matt Lodge: Lodge assaulted women before famously getting locked up in the United States. He was charged with eight counts of domestic violence against his then partner in 2015. He pleaded guilty to one and eventually had no conviction recorded with a good behaviour bond on appeal the following year.

Dylan Walker and Tigers forward Zane Musgrove don’t have a Wife Beater Tattoo from The Fronwlow Medal, but have both been charged with violence against women on more than one occasion – they just haven’t been found guilty.

Walker was expected to sit out the Roosters clash because he has been seen physically assaulting his partner on more than one occasion and has been to court due to the charges, but his partner has always found a reason to forgive him. Lodge also played in Friday’s game. When asked why he wasn’t protesting Women In League, he replied:

“What’s Women In League round?”

Api Koroisau (Panthers) and Jai Arrow (Rabbitohs) did battle in State of Origin 2021, the same year they did battle for the title of Partner of the Year. Both players cheated on their partners when they smuggled other women into their rooms during Origin camps, and as well as breaching strict COVID-19 biosecurity protocols, showed great disrespect to the women in their lives. Jack de Belin of the Dragons is another candidate for this title. He was found not guilty of sexual assault, but on that night had sex with a woman while his partner was at home carrying his unborn child. Meanwhile, Bryce Cartwright of the Eels won the title in 2017 when he used a ‘fixer’ to silence a young woman who gave birth to his child that he refused to help raise.

Bulldogs winger Jayden Okunbor earned his Frownlow nomination for sleeping with a schoolgirl after an official school visit with the Canterbury team, as did then teammate and current Raiders player Corey Harawira-Naera, who decided to share his love with a local teacher as well as a student.

Broncos forward Payne Haas pleaded guilty to two counts of intimidating police, including a female officer, in 2021, but his latest off-field combatant was one of his own teammates, so maybe he does believe in gender equality.

Sources inside various clubs have revealed that the following players are still deciding whether or not to boycott:

George Burgess (Dragons) was charged with sexual touching of a woman in 2022, and his case is still before the courts.

Anthony Milford (Knights) and Tui Kamikamica (Storm) were both charged with violence against women but found not guilty.

The NRL is about to learn what happens when their players collide with the real world.

Image: NuNa

Extreme Gardening with Rex Hunt.

Former AFL player Rex Hunt orchestrated a masterful publicity stunt to announce his return to the big screen as host of Extreme Gardening.

Hunt was recently caught on camera appearing to wield a garden fork during a road rage incident in Victoria, and has earned himself a nomination for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame as well as valuable publicity for the new series.

Hunt was reportedly involved in a minor road accident in suburban Melbourne which forced both drivers out of their cars. Reports indicate that the other male driver threw a punch. Hunt then channeled his experience as an AFL commentator and host of Rex Hunt’s Fishing Adventure to earn valuable publicity for Extreme Gardening. The former full-forward walked back to his car and retrieved a garden fork, with which witnesses alleged he lunged at the other driver. He was then heard yelling:

“You wanna die? You wanna die? Do you want to die?”

But that’s not all.

Hunt appeared to walk several laps of the block to cool down, but was actually employing his TV smarts to provoke the other driver into chasing him on foot and drawing out the conflict, the same way a TV writer will draw out a successful series for as many episodes as possible.

The other man obliged, and is said to have “run after Rex in an aggressive manner” and then was seen “throwing punches at trees”, according to a Channel Nine reporter. It’s not clear whether Hunt anticipated or orchestrated the shadow boxing, but it certainly made for great vision for the mainstream media which lapped up the story and gave Hunt the publicity he so desperately craves.

Hunt’s wife eventually succeeded in calling him back to his car and no official police report was made as it later became clear that the incident was a carefully-planned publicity stunt.

“It’s gonna be massive folks,” declared Hunt at the official launch of Extreme Gardening held just after the road rage incident.

“This is Extreme Gardening. Not your namby-pamby, woke, pinko, bolshie, luvy-duvvy organic gardening shows with wogs and permacultural pretty boys. This is real gardening for real men. And don’t expect to see any women on the show, they should never be allowed as far as the garden, let alone in an AFL commentary booth.”

“Extreme Gardening will be full of action and men being men, just like the good old days. You thought today was crazy, wait till the show comes to 7Mate later this year.”

Hunt was then asked to confirm whether he actually said:

“You wanna die? You wanna die? Do you want to die?”

He replied:

“You bloody bet I did mate. That’s what I used to say to the little fishies before I cast my line on my fishing show, and I’ll say it a lot on Extreme Gardening, wait and see.”

As well as priceless publicity, the stunt earned Hunt a nomination for The Fronwnlow Medal after years of trying.

The former St Kilda, Geelong and Richmond player made his first attempt in 2004. He was forced to remove his pants and shoes after setting off a metal detector at an airport, so he stole ten metal forks from the Qantas club and took them onto a Qantas flight to highlight flaws in airport security. He was detained upon arrival in Melbourne for questioning and released without charges.

His second attempt involved good ol’ casual racism, a Frownlow staple. While commentating in 2005, he called Indigenous AFL player Leon Davis ‘as black as a dog’ and was later forced to apologise. After a racist slur, he resorted to another Fronwlow staple, a drunken fight. He and his son were involved in a drunken scuffle with teenagers in Byron Bay in 2005.

Hunt’s third attempt involved infidelity and hypocrisy. In 2006 he finally confessed to cheating on his wife with different women, who he apparently paid during the fifteen year period. The cheating apparently cost him up to $1000 a week with one woman, and forced him to admit he had been hypocritical after attacking other famous people for infidelity.

Speaking about the cheating on radio, he said:

“That’s what a fool does. I’m invincible, I’m paying money…uh…The girl’s happy, she’s got no money, I got my rocks off. How good is this?”

Finally, Hunt sought more attention in 2022 when claiming that women should not be AFL commentators.

Fans of reality TV can expect more of these harmless high jinks when Extreme Gardening premieres on 7Mate later this year.

Image: http://www.radiotoday.com.au