Tag: redlight

How Blake Ferguson can benefit from his recent arrest.

Former NRL player Blake Ferguson has positioned himself perfectly for a role on an Australian reality TV show after losing his rugby contract due to drug and assault charges.

Almost every former footballer who has appeared on an Aussie reality TV shows in recent years has committed some form of scandal and been nominated for The Frownlow Medal and/or 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 Jarryd Hayne 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.

Ferguson was recently arrested for alleged possession of cocaine and alleged assault at a red light district in Tokyo. The incidents cost him his contract with Japanese rugby union club NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu, and he may struggle to play professional football ever again.

The former NSW and Australia winger would join a long list of disgraced and scandal-prone footballers to have appeared on Aussie TV screens in recent years after being nominated for Frownlow honours.

Former AFL player Dayne Beams appeared on Celebrity Big Brother. Earlier in 2021, fellow AFL player Heath Shaw, and disgraced NRL star Sam Burgess, appeared on SAS Australia.

Footballers are of particular interest to competitive shows which reward backstabbing, cheating, stealing, lying, conniving, manipulation, betrayal…and an inflated ego. Other footballers who have appeared on reality TV shows and been nominated for Frownlow honours in recent years include:

Brian Lake (AFL) – Survivor

Sam Thaiday (NRL) – Parental Guidance, Celebrity Come Dine With Me

Robert ‘Dipper’ Dipierdomenico – Excess Baggage, Celebrity Dog School

I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here

  • Anthony Mundine (NRL)
  • Barry Hall (AFL) (runner-up)
  • Brendan Fevola  (AFL) – Winner Season Two
  • Dane Swan (AFL) (runner-up)
  • Billy Brownless (AFL)

Hall is set to appear on another show in 2022, in the latest series of SAS Australia, alongside fellow AFL legend Wayne Carey. Meanwhile, former NRL player Beau Ryan, and Collingwood hero Nathan Buckley, participated in I’m A Celebrity Get me Out of Here.

Who knows, if Ferguson’s partner finally tires of his off-field antics, he could even star in The Bachelor or Ex on the Beach.

Image: Getty Images

Blake Ferguson redefines the Haiku.

Former NRL player Blake Ferguson has created his own style of haiku in the process of losing his contract with a Japanese rugby union club for alleged drug possession and assault.

Ferguson has also earned a nomination for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame just a few months after leaving the NRL.

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.

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.

NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu issued a 10-word statement to sack Ferguson before he had even played a game for his new club, following allegations that the star winger was caught in possession of cocaine and was arrested for punching a patron at a restaurant in the red light district of Tokyo.

“Regarding Ferguson, the player contract was cancelled on January 2nd,” the club confirmed in a statement on January 3. The statement does not conform to the traditional structure of a haiku, but is only slightly different.

Possession of illicit drugs attracts heavy punishment in Japan, and the former NSW and Australia representative could find himself behind bars for a long time.

It is believed Ferguson is penning his own haiku in response to the allegations. It will need to be good, as he may have destroyed his chances of playing either rugby code at any level in the future. Then again, Izaia Parese was sacked by the Brisbane Broncos for drug possession and he’s now playing for the Wallabies.

Aussie fans of ‘Fergo’ can rest easy knowing that their tax dollars are funding consular assistance from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The premiership winner with the Sydney Roosters took only a few months to earn his first nomination for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame, after numerous nominations for The Frownlow Medal during his NRL career. He was found guilty of indecent assault on a woman in 2013, and has admitted to a gambling addiction. He and his partner in crime, Josh Dugan, also distributed controversial photos of themselves drinking alcohol on social media while playing for the Canberra Raiders.

Footy fans now await the publication of Ferguson’s haiku and look forward to another year of off-field scandals and nominations for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.

Image: NuNa