BEHIND THE EIGHT-BALL
Steve michaels accused of supplying coke to line of nrl players and code-hopping Hunt
FORMER top flight rugby league player Steve Michaels supplied cocaine to NRL players and code-hopping star Karmichael Hunt, police will allege.
The explosive claims were revealed yesterday after a magistrate ordered Michaels, 30, to stand trial in the Southport District Court on 10 counts of supplying dangerous drugs.
The allegations include accusations Michaels provided Hunt with an “eight ball’’ of cocaine, or about 3.5g, on three occasions. The charges all relate to incidents between August 15 and October 25, 2014, at various locations across the Gold Coast.
Police will allege that on six occasions Michaels, a former Titans, Broncos and Hull player, supplied the drug to unnamed NRL players as well as to Hunt.
Sources told the Bulletin Michaels had refused to name the players involved.
The charges came about after police tapped phone calls between Michaels and drug syndicate leader and former Sydney Roosters player John Touma.
Michaels is not alleged to have made any money from the sale of the drugs. Defence lawyer Campbell MacCallum, of Moloney MacCallum Abdelshahied Lawyers, said Michaels would fight the charges.
STEVE Michaels, as a footballer and young bloke, had a future that was so much brighter than his mate Darius Boyd.
Their careers from the juniors ran parallel paths until some sliding door moments with outcomes that have shocked their mentors and friends.
As Broncos captain, Boyd hopes to secure another State of Origin jumper with a strong performance in tomorrow’s double header clash at Suncorp Stadium. Michaels is facing trial on cocaine charges.
More than two decades ago Michaels and Boyd were running around together in the Mudgeeraba under-8s.
As teenagers they were reunited at Robina High School before graduating at Palm Beach-Currumbin High School.
For their coaches, Boyd was almost impossible to get a word out of on the trip home from training as he digested a difficult childhood, not knowing his father and his mother struggling with mental health issues.
By comparison, Michaels – who had an older sibling at school – was a model student on and off the field.
He was also rated ahead of Boyd as a football prodigy. In terms of toughness, he was head and shoulders above bigger boys.
A former Robina High football coach told the Bulletin: “He came through Robina High and was poached by Palm Beach-Currumbin. Steve was only very young, but he had the toughness in his game.
“He was a great kid at school. Obviously brought up very well. It’s a real shame (what is happening now).”
Both players were backs, with Michaels playing centre or wing, and Boyd on the flanks before he moved to fullback at senior level. They were destined to compete for positions.
Boyd joined Michaels at Robina in 2004 and they both ended up at Palm Beach and playing for Australian Schoolboys sides.
“Darius was the way he is now (very quiet). Steve had more potential than Darius,” the coach said.
“I never thought Darius would get to the heights that he did. Steve was this tough defender. You don’t like to see that young blokes as they grow up get involved in this sort of rubbish (court dramas).”
In 2006 Michaels was already at the Broncos when Boyd made his debut, having become the third youngest Bronco in history after Karmichael Hunt.
“We did have a bit to do with each other at Mudgeeraba all those years ago, and then he came over to our school at Robina in 2004,” the then 19-year-old Michaels said. “When he (Boyd) came here this pre-season I was happy to help him along, but pretty soon he took it on his own and didn’t need any help. That extra year at school improved him so much.”
Former Gold Coast Titans football manager Scott Sattler said the club wanted to keep both players on the Coast when they were juniors.
“He and Darius were key targets for the Titans to keep on the Gold Coast. He was a tremendous kid, very respectful of everyone. He came from a tremendous family,” Sattler told the Bulletin.
“He was a freak as a player as a kid. And a true gentleman off the field. If he was 17 now he’d have 16 clubs clambering over him.”
Injury and the most turbulent coaching reign in Broncos history worked against Michaels. On the shortlist for Origin in 2008, he had fought his way back to first grade after a knee reconstruction.
After the club had a 56-0 loss to Canberra, Broncos coach Ivan Henjak axed Michaels, sending him to the Queensland Cup for the rest of the 2009 season. He returned home to the Titans.
Michaels was still playing in the English Super League when the Crime and Corruption Commission last year issued an arrest warrant after a drugs investigation.
His career was stalled by injury and senior coaches who could not decide if he was a centre or winger, but what surprises those who know him has been the drug charges.
“He was a beautiful kid from a great family who had the respect of everyone around him,” a friend said.
IF HE (STEVE MICHAELS) WAS 17 NOW HE’D HAVE 16 CLUBS CLAMBERING OVER HIM. SCOTT SATTLER