Hunt for a new idol
DRUG-TAINTED Karmichael Hunt has a free pass to play but a bloc of rugby powerbrokers has already voted he never represent the Queensland Reds again.
Rugby Australia’s feeble decision to impose a fourgame ban, already served, and a $10,000 fine for Hunt’s second drug-related bust has angered a code that simply doesn’t want him.
The one-time pin-up boy is toxic and a grassroots chorus has spoken out. An informal 8-1 vote from the nine Brisbane club presidents at their March 6 meeting supported an agenda item that Hunt never be able to play for the Reds again.
More telling was the fact the item was put forward by the GPS Juniors committee, who didn’t want Hunt’s influence on the 1100 rugby kids they represent.
Cocaine charges were dropped last month because of lack of evidence when Hunt pleaded guilty to possessing the prescription drug Xanax.
Chief executive Raelene Castle could not have been serious when saying Hunt’s punishment from Rugby Australia reflected “the damage that the very public nature of his arrest and the subsequent speculation has inflicted on the game”.
The $10,000 fine is ridiculous, a tap with a feather. Hunt should have been ordered to pay back a far bigger chunk of his $500,000-a-year contract money, that relating to his image promoting the game, because it will never be used again.
Hunt was found to have committed a “low level” breach of RA’s code of conduct by Integrity Unit chief Gerard McEvilly.
Hunt is allowed to return to Reds training and is technically available to play against the Brumbies on April 7 when the squad from overseas.
However it’s hard to imagine coach Brad Thorn wanting to poison the team culture and winning mood he has developed by putting Hunt in the midst of it. returns