Karmichael Hunt cocaine scandal: How the star Queensland Reds recruit survived the axe
QRU boss Jim Carmichael says Karmichael Hunt’s “immediate honesty and genuine contrition” about letting the club down saved the star recruit.
AT 8.15pm on February 19, as Queensland Reds boss Jim Carmichael walked from Ballymore to meet his family at a nearby restaurant, he received a phone call that would rock Australian rugby.
On the other line was David Riolo, manager of the Reds’ star recruit Karmichael Hunt.
Carmichael quickly processed the staggering conversation; Hunt had been busted by the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission buying cocaine four times from alleged dealer John Touma last September and October.
After notifying Queensland Rugby chairman Rod McCall and having a brief discussion, Carmichael proceeded with his family meal.
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Hunt stayed up until 11pm for Carmichael’s phone call, and was immediately apologetic.
But it wasn’t until the following morning, at 7am, that the pair came face to face and the seeds were sown to save Hunt’s rugby career.
“I played a significant role in bringing Karmichael to this club, and during my many dealings with him I felt I had a good grasp of his character,” Carmichael told the Daily Telegraph.
“That morning when we met, I looked him in the eye. His immediate honesty, genuine contrition, and willingness to address the issues told me I hadn’t been wrong about him.”
Within those few minutes, after Hunt conceded he would accept whatever punishment was handed out, Carmichael sensed that — depending on the legal outcome — Hunt and the game of rugby could benefit from treatment rather than termination.
By this time, the QCCC had released a statement notifying the public that four people, including “a 28-year-old man from Hendra”, had been arrested in relation to “drug supply”.
The ensuing fortnight of publicity and scrutiny did little to sway Carmichael’s conviction, and on Friday the court case concluded with Hunt pleading guilty to lesser charges of possession given he was “supplying” himself, and copping a $2500 fine with no criminal conviction recorded.
The Reds, in conjunction with the ARU and RUPA, came upon a penalty of a $30,000 fine and six-game back-dated suspension that will see the triple-code star dubbed “Special K” make his return to the field against Melbourne Rebels on April 3.
Hunt faced the media yesterday in the QRU boardroom, in which giant letters emblazoned across the walls form the words “Teamwork”, “Commitment”, “Pride” and “Culture”.
He sat between Carmichael and McCall, fidgeted at the table, tapped his fingers together, swallowed uncomfortably, and at times sat back in his chair attempting to exhale his stress, while delivering pre-planned, succinct answers.
“I don’t have a drug problem,” Hunt said.
Has he used drugs before?
“I don’t have a perfect past, that’s all I can say.”
Why did you do it?
“I probably don’t want to go into that right now. Mistakes were made, it’s been dealt with in court.”
Does sport have a major problem with recreational drugs?
“It’s a problem society is facing, it’s not a footy-oriented problem that’s just isolated to football codes.”
He feared his career was over.
“I’ve been sitting in a pretty vulnerable place the last couple of weeks,” Hunt said.
“I wouldn’t lie and say that I didn’t fear the worst. What I did know was that I had made a mistake that is not too uncommon these days.
“It doesn’t make me a bad man for it but I’m obviously disappointed in those decisions.”
The father-of-two will attend drug rehabilitation classes and hopes one day he can steer other young footballers away from the perils he now tries to defeat.
While Hunt wasn’t contracted to Reds or rugby during the time of his indiscretions, the game still had the power to dismiss him.
“In the case of Karmichael, my genuine belief is that by letting him go we as an industry and a business would have learned nothing,” Carmichael said.
“We have got a young man who wants to redeem himself. If not with us, then he still has the character to want to redeem himself.
“This gives him the opportunity to do it with our organisation, and I find it quite motivating, it gives us an opportunity to grow some more.
“If it’s only about Karmichael then we’re getting away from our wider commitment to our stakeholders.
“This is an opportunity to use this with Karmichael to take our sport to a new level in how we deal with responsibility.”
The line, so to speak, is now clear.
“I believe Karmichael thought he was able to behave like that,” McCall said. “We’re going to make it very clear to our people in the game of rugby that they are not able to act like that.”
Hunt added: “I can’t repay the faith overnight but I look forward to hopefully repaying the faith over the next couple of years both on and off the field.”
Carmichael trusts that he will.
Originally published as Karmichael Hunt cocaine scandal: How the star Queensland Reds recruit survived the axe
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