Karmichael Hunt will never live down his guilty verdict of cocaine possession, according to Wendell Sailor, who copped a two-year ban for testing positive to the drug in 2006 when playing rugby union.
He says it is something he still has to deal with on a regular basis, as will Hunt.
“With the ASADA stuff at the start of every year it gets brought up every year, so I still live it,” Sailor told Triple M.
“That’s my mistake, I’ve got two kids who play football (and they live with it too).
“And I know Karmichael has got two young kids … it’s tough.”
“But … if I’m Karmichael I’m happy with that because I’m playing football again in six weeks.”
Sailor signed with St George Illawarra in the NRL when his ban expired, enjoying two seasons with the joint venture before retiring.
The former dual international said Hunt should be thankful he wasn’t thrown out of rugby.
The ARU and QRU threw Hunt a lifeline after he pleaded guilty to four counts of possessing cocaine and was fined $2,500 in in Southport Magistrates Court on Thursday.
The rugby authorities fined Hunt $30,000 and banned him from playing for six weeks.
“He should be thankful to the lawyer and to the judge but also (to the ARU),” Sailor said.
“Up to now Karmichael’s record has been pretty clean.
“Everywhere he has been, whether it is AFL or rugby in France, he has been a really good ambassador.”