Hunt handed ban and five figure fine for possessing alprazolam
Australia and Reds back Karmichael Hunt is free to return to rugby after being handed a ban and fine following a Rugby Australia (RA) disciplinary process.
Hunt, 31, was arrested in December last year before pleading guilty on separate charges of possessing a dangerous drug (Alprazolam) and contravening a police direction, fined 300 Australian dollars for each offence.
RA said it found Hunt committed "a low-level breach" of the organisation's player code of conduct.
It fined Hunt 10,000 AUD and handed him a four-match suspension, while he was placed on an illicit drug testing program for 12 months and will participate in any drug treatment and education programs deemed necessary by RA.
However, RA said Hunt had already served the ban given his voluntary stand-down since his arrest.
"We take all matters of off-field behaviour seriously and have conducted a thorough investigation into the events surrounding Karmichael Hunt's arrest in December, and the subsequent court proceedings," RA chief executive Raelene Castle said.
"In arriving at [this] outcome, we've considered the judgement of the court and all the evidence we had available relating to Karmichael's arrest, as well as considering the damage that the very public nature of his arrest and the subsequent speculation has inflicted on the game.
"The penalty handed down to Karmichael also takes into account a previous disciplinary matter for which he was fined and suspended in 2015."
The Reds have made a strong start to the Super Rugby season, winning three of their opening four games.
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Brett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
Go to commentsWell done Baby Boks we will take the Draw. No 9 senseless long passes in those conditions. let’s move on and hope for some good weather
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