Steve Renouf fined and disqualified from driving after pleading guilty to drink driving

A Broncos legend has learned his fate after being caught driving at almost four times the legal blood-alcohol limit, telling police “you’ve got me, I’m drunk”.

Brisbane Broncos legend Steve Renouf has been fined and disqualified from driving for 11 months after being caught driving at almost four times the legal blood-alcohol limit, telling police, “You’ve got me, I’m drunk.”

Queensland Maroons and Australian Kangaroos great Renouf, 55, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of driving under the influence armed with a reference from super coach Wayne Bennett.

Brisbane Magistrates Court heard Renouf was pulled over by police for a routine licence check and roadside breath test about 10.45pm on Tuesday, July 1.

He was stopped while driving his Kia on Windsor Rd at Red Hill – just a few kilometres from Brisbane Broncos HQ on Fulcher Road.

Steve Renouf addresses the media outside the Brisbane Magistrates Court. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Hedgman

He initially turned off the car and exited and was told by police to sit back down, the court heard, police prosecutor Kiara D’Odorico said.

“(Renouf said) You’ve got me I’m drunk,” she said.

Police could smell alcohol on Renouf who was slurring words and dropped several items, she said.

He submitted to alcohol breath test and was detained for further testing, she said.

When told he would be taken for further testing Renouf said “no no no” and attempted to walk off, the court heard.

Ms D’Odorico said he was then placed in handcuffs and taken to the watch-house.

There he returned a blood alcohol concentration of 0.197.

His lawyer Angelo Venardos said his client was not being aggressive with police and when he walked away from his car he was presumably going home as it had occurred outside his home.

Renouf had been socialising with friends in Paddington when he made the “clearly foolish decision to get into the car and drive home”.

Mr Venardos said references reflected that Renouf was showing “deep remorse, shame and embarrassment”.

Steve Renouf during his playing days.

“He’s undertaken some serious reflection of his actions,” he said.

“He’s a man of great integrity.”

Mr Venardos said the 55-year-old had never been before the court.

Magistrate Judith Daley said it was a very early plea and accepted Renouf, who suffered a hypoglycaemic episode at the time, hadn’t been aggressive with police.

“He made a decision to drive and obviously his thinking was very impaired by alcohol,” she said.

Renouf was fined $1200 and disqualified from driving for 11 months from July 16 taking into account the 16 days he’s been without a licence.

No conviction was recorded with Ms Daley noting his standard traffic history, which included no like offences, and his overseas commitments.

Renouf had completed the Queensland Traffic Offenders Program, the court heard.

Mr Venardos also tendered references from Fiona McNamara and Glen Barber.

He said his client was pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity.

“He’s clearly owning what he’s doing, he has been a role model, and he sees that he knows he’s a role model...(it’s) something that is very important to him, and he’s had an enormous impact on the community, at large, and particularly the Indigenous community, for a long period of time,” he said.

Steve Renouf is regarded as a Broncos legend.

“He understands the catastrophic consequences of what might have occurred that night had he been involved in a motor vehicle accident.”

Mr Venardos said police had been “very kind” to Renouf, giving him jelly beans during his hypoglycemic episode.

Ms Daley also noted the favourable references by the likes of Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett.

While not employed by the Broncos, Renouf is a Brisbane Old Boys Legend who played a starring role in the club’s maiden premiership win in 1992.

Renouf – who played 183 NRL games – won four premierships with the Broncos in the 1990s and has been regarded as one of the best centres of his era.

He was nicknamed “The Pearl” because of his rare speed and attacking gifts.

Outside court Renouf said he was “deeply sorry” and took full responsibility for his actions.

“It was a big mistake,” he told journalists.

“It was one of those things that you fully regret.

“I have been a role model in the community for a long time, and so for me, that really hurts me and I apologise if I’ve upset anyone out there that has looked up to me or or has that respect.

“That’s a responsibility you’ve got to take. You know, if you do something wrong, you’ve got to front up, and I’ve done that.”

Renouf admitted the last few weeks had been stressful and humbling.

“There’s no other word for it. You can’t go through something like that and not have it affect you,” he said.

“I think that’ll actually be a positive for me. I’ll go forward and make sure that I just talk to people in the future and young people about not doing that.”

Steve Renouf admitted he was in the wrong.

The court heard Renouf had virtually no memory of the ordeal on the night of his arrest.

“It’s a sad situation. Unfortunately we’re not perfect, and sometimes you fall on these circumstances by your own volition and I’ve accepted that and I’ll do my best to be a better person and make sure that doesn’t happen again,” he said.

Asked if he would be quitting alcohol Renouf said he would be seeking guidance around it “just to see where I’m at”.

The incident comes just a week after the head of media for Brisbane Broncos Melissa Mallet, 39, was fined $1000 after crashing her Kia Sorento into two parked vehicles in residential Paddington street while under the influence of alcohol to which she pleaded guilty.

Asked if there was a broader issue with alcohol in the Broncos community Renouf said: “That’s not for me to say. I mean, I left rugby league in 2001 and that’s a lot of water under the bridge there. So really I can’t see that being the case.”

Renouf said asking his old coach for a character reference was not a hard task.

“If you understand the relationship with Wayne, he’s been my coach, he’s been my mentor for a long, long time. And Benny had no problem, he came forward with that reference and I appreciated it.” he said.

He thanked the police for offering help during his diabetic episode during the incident.

“They saw my insulin pump and so they tested me and I was having a hypo a diabetic episode. They helped me. they treated me with jelly beans and they gave me a drink as well,” he said.

“They do a great job and they were doing their job that night and they were really good to me when I was in the watchhouse.”

Originally published as Steve Renouf fined and disqualified from driving after pleading guilty to drink driving