A contrite Karmichael Hunt has vowed to repay the faith shown in him by Australian rugby in the wake of his drugs scandal.
Hunt faced the media on Friday morning at Ballymore, a day after he pleaded guilty in a Gold Coast court to four counts of possessing cocaine.
The Queensland Reds’ player escaped a conviction and with his career intact, with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) and Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) choosing to stand by the code-hopper instead of cutting him loose.
Hunt admitted he feared the worst when he received notice of the charges, which relate to a period last year when he was contracted to the AFL’s Gold Coast.
“I’ve been sitting in a pretty vulnerable place for the last couple of weeks,” he said.
“I don’t want to lie and say I didn’t fear the worst.
“What I did know is I’d made a mistake that is not too uncommon these days.
“It doesn’t make me a bad man for it but, obviously, I’m disappointed in those decisions I made back then and how it landed me in this position now.”
Hunt’s barrister Alastair McDougall told the court on Thursday his client’s charges were part of a “misguided post-season celebration”.
Asked if it was his only encounter with cocaine, Hunt said: “I don’t have a perfect past. That’s all I can say on that.”
He later added: “It’s a problem society is facing – it’s not a footy-orientated problem. It’s a wider issue here.
“I just want to do the necessary counselling and get the understanding of what goes through people’s heads when they make the decision to cross that boundary.”
Hunt has been issued a six-week ban by the ARU and QRU, which has been backdated to allow him to resume his Super Rugby duties on April 3 with the Reds against the Melbourne Rebels.
The 28-year-old has also been fined $30,000 and stripped of the Queensland vice-captaincy. Hunt thanked the QRU for its support.
“Obviously, the charges relate to a time where I wasn’t contracted to the Reds,” he said.
“They could easily have wiped their hands clean and said they didn’t want to have anything to do with it and I appreciate that.
“I can’t repay the faith overnight but I look forward to hopefully repaying the faith over the next couple of years on the field and off the field.”
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