World Cup-winning former Wallabies coach Bob Dwyer believes Australian rugby has done the right thing in standing by Karmichael Hunt.

Hunt was given a sporting lifeline by the Australian and Queensland Rugby Unions on Thursday following his appearance in Southport Magistrates Court, where he pleaded guilty to four counts of possessing cocaine and was fined $2,500.

While Hunt was contracted to the AFL’s Gold Coast Suns at the time of the offences, he has still accepted a raft of penalties handed down by rugby’s powers that be.

The code-hopper’s contract was not torn up – rather, he has been slapped with a further $30,000 fine and a six-week Super Rugby suspension, while he has also been stripped of the Queensland Reds vice-captaincy.

Dwyer said it was the right move to keep Hunt in rugby, given the remorse shown by the 28-year-old since he became implicated in Queensland sport’s drug scandal.

“If he’s reformed and a good-quality person, I reckon we should be prepared to take him on board,” Dwyer told AAP.

“I’m not keen on helping people who don’t want to help themselves, but I am 100 per cent behind helping those who do.

“It looks to me as if the guy is really keen to do well and is prepared to work hard to do what has to be done.

“That’s the sort of bloke we want to have in rugby.”

Hunt’s sanctions from the ARU and QRU also include a drug education and rehabilitation program.

Dwyer said Hunt’s experiences could turn him from a role model to a cautionary tale to younger athletes.

“Someone who had suffered the depths of such a situation and publicly admitted that situation and come back from it. It’s a good sort of person to have around,” Dwyer said.

“Rather than someone who has never been tempted, here’s someone who has but has managed to overcome it.

“He’s in a really good position to advise people and to be a role model for such people who might be tempted.”