Karmichael Hunt’s future at Queensland Reds in doubt after Rugby Australia sanction

DRUG-tainted Karmichael Hunt has a free pass to return to play but a bloc of rugby powerbrokers has already voted he never represent the Queensland Reds again.

Karmichael Hunt leaves the Magistrates Court in Brisbane.

DRUG-tainted Karmichael Hunt has a free pass to return 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 four-game 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 where the code’s top administrators will not or cannot.

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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 such a stained figure as any influence on the 1100 rugby kids they represent.

“There was the hope Rugby Australia would take a tough stance and Hunt would not play on but it seems a very soft decision,” GPS club president Michael Taylor said.

Karmichael Hunt leaves the Magistrates Court in Brisbane.

“It’s a bad look.”

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 neither the Reds nor Wallabies will ever be able to use it again.

Hunt was found to have committed a “low level” breach of RA’s code of conduct by Integrity Unit chief Gerard McEvilly.

Karmichael Hunt at Wallabies training.

Queensland Reds head coach Brad Thorn.

Neither the Reds nor the Australian Rugby Union would stand in the way of Hunt, 31, pursuing a playing future in France.

“The QRU is working with Rugby Australia to understand the implications of the announcement for the QRU,” QRU chief executive Richard Barker said.

On the basis of the decision, Hunt is allowed to return to Reds training and is technically available to play against the Brumbies on April 7 when the squad returns from overseas.

It’s hard to imagine Reds coach Brad Thorn wanting to poison the superb team culture and winning mood he has developed by putting Hunt in the midst of it.

Rugby’s bosses may not have had the ammunition from the police report and judgment of the court to hit him with anything stiffer but they can dole out a greater punishment.

Selection, or rather non-selection. Hunt should never add to his six Tests and 32 Reds outings.

“I don’t think he will allow Karmichael Hunt back,” Wallabies great Tim Horan told Fox Sports of Thorn’s likely stance.

“I think what’s been happening behind the scenes over the last three or four months is the ARU has been looking to find a home for Karmichael Hunt offshore.”

Originally published as Karmichael Hunt’s future at Queensland Reds in doubt after Rugby Australia sanction