Super Rugby
I don't have a drug problem: Karmichael Hunt
Andy Withers
March 6, 2015
Karmichael Hunt was contrite as he faced the price on Friday © Getty Images
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Karmichael Hunt accepts he is fortunate to have avoided a criminal conviction having pleaded guilty to four charges of cocaine possession, and to have retained a contract with Queensland Rugby Union and the Australian Rugby Union, saying he had "feared the worst". Hunt said at a press conference on Friday that he was "happy with the result" and was looking forward to getting on with his life.

The Australian Rugby Union and Queensland Rugby Union suspended Hunt for six weeks, and fined him Aus$30,000, after he had pleaded guilty at Southport Magistrates Court. He was fined Aus$2500 by the court, but no criminal conviction was recorded. Hunt, who has also been stood down as a vice-captain of Queensland Reds, accepted the rugby penalties, even though he was contracted to the Gold Coast Suns AFL at the time of the offence, and the ARU, QRU and the Rugby Union Players' Association (RUPA) hence determined that he will also undergo a drug treatment and rehabilitation program, and will be placed on a monitored and targeted drug testing program, in accordance with the ARU's Illicit Drugs Policy.

Queensland rugby legend Stan Pilecki believes Hunt should have been kicked out of the game, saying "rugby doesn't need any bad baggage". Pilecki, who played 122 times for Queensland in the 1970s and 1980s said "there are plenty of former players in my circle of friends who believe rugby should cut him totally".

"He hasn't fulfilled his contract to the Reds or Australian rugby or all the kids out there he was going to be an example for," Pilecki told News Corp in Australia.

The Reds' Karmichael Hunt speaks to the media, Super Rugby, Rugby House, Brisbane, March 6, 2015
Karmichael Hunt: Queensland officials "believe in his ability to repay the faith" © Getty Images
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Hunt accepted the opinion of Pilecki and others, saying at the press conference that he had been "sitting in a pretty vulnerable place for the last couple of weeks so wouldn't lie to say I didn't fear the worst".

"I'm thankful for [QRU chairman] Rod [McCall] and [QRU chief executive] Jim [Carmichael] for backing me up.

"The charges related to a time when I wasn't contracted to the Reds and I think it speaks volumes to the character of Jim, Road and the boad ... they could easily have wiped their hands clean and said they didn't want anything to do with it."

Hunt said he didn't have a drug problem but he acknowledged that he didn't have a "perfect past", and McCall and Carmichael said the player's honesty had been key in the decision-making process that had involved the QRU, the ARU and the RUPA.

McCall said that Hunt was "a good man" who had "made serious mistakes", but he backed the player to repay the faith shown in him.

"I believe in the man," McCall said. "I believe in his ability to repay the faith and be a huge factor in Queensland rugby in Queensland rugby going forward."

Hunt said that he couldn't repay that faith "overnight" but he looked forward "hopefully to repaying the faith in the next couple of years on the field and off the field."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd

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