Judge's swipe at NRL fans' intellect as Wati Holmwood told he must serve two months for Origin streak after downing eight schooners

A DISTRICT Court judge questioned the intelligence of NRL fans during remarks at an appeal by Origin streaker Wati Holmwood.

A DISTRICT Court judge yesterday questioned the intelligence of rugby league fans during remarks at an appeal by State of Origin streaker Wati Holmwood against a three-month jail sentence.

Holmwood's lawyer William Tuckey argued his client should not be sent to jail because streaking was a time-honoured Australian tradition and his antics were meant as a "comedic and larrikin act''.

Wati Holmwood makes his dash into infamy. Picture: Brett Costello

But in response to the claim, Judge Martin Sides, QC, said it did not matter that fans at the game may have found the display funny. "It may merely be a reflection of the people who go to the football ... it may suggest they're not the most intelligent members of the community," Judge Sides said.

When contacted for a response to Judge Sides' remarks last night, the NRL's media and communications director John Brady said he hoped the judge's comments were not intended the way they sounded.

"We have the greatest of respect for our fans," Mr Brady said. "I think most fans, at the ground and afterwards, were quite upset that the match had been interrupted and they fully understood the ramifications of what had happened."

Holmwood, 33, had his three-month jail sentence reduced to two months by Judge Sides yesterday.

In a last-ditch attempt at freedom after being sentenced to jail for his drunken, naked dash during this year's Origin decider, Holmwood remained at a loss to explain exactly why he decided to strip off and start his lumbering run across the field clad in only a pair of joggers in front of more than 80,000 fans - and a TV audience of millions - after downing eight schooners of beer.

"I felt like I had to be seen, I just wanted people to see me ... I wasn't thinking, I just did it," he said.

When asked what reaction he expected from the audience, Holmwood said: "I don't know, that they would be laughing, I suppose."

The New-Zealand born man was already serving a good-behaviour bond for streaking at an NRL final between the Wests Tigers and the NZ Warriors in 2011 and walking naked around a campsite last June when he was charged over the latest incident. Judge Sides said Holmwood had known there was a chance he would go to jail if he streaked again and yet had gone to the game planning another nude run.

He cut one month from the three-month sentence Holmwood was given earlier this month and cancelled a $2000 fine the streaker was ordered to pay.

Holmwood will now be released on November 18.

Holmwood is taken away by police. Picture: Brett Costello