Blues star yet to plead to assault charge

Kurtis Haiu with wife Frieda at court yesterday. He is charged with assaulting developer Glenn Cooper and his wife Kirsten St George. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Cancer-stricken rugby star Kurtis Haiu is alleged to have attacked a property-developer couple after a deal turned sour.

The Auckland Blues lock is charged with assaulting Kirsten St George and her husband, Glenn Cooper, and possessing a hammer with the intent to use it.

The 26-year-old, who appeared in the Pukekohe District Court yesterday, did not enter a plea and was remanded on bail to his Mangere home.

His bail conditions include no contact with the couple or their Karaka address.

Haiu was supported in court by his wife, Frieda, friends and manager Bruce Sharrock.

The property developers' front gate was padlocked when the Herald visited yesterday. Mr Cooper said he had locked it because he felt "a bit uneasy".

He said that he had sold Haiu some property but did not want to go into details.

"I am trying to keep my profile down."

Mr Cooper had a black eye and a swollen face, six days after the alleged assault took place.

Asked if his injury was as a result of the alleged assault, Mr Cooper said: "I don't normally walk around with black eyes."

Haiu, who has played 53 games for the Blues and 75 for Auckland, is on indefinite leave from rugby and is preparing to undergo treatment for bone cancer after being diagnosed last month.

Outside court, Haiu told waiting reporters he did not want to comment on his court case.

He thanked his family and friends for supporting him through his illness.

"There are going to be challenges ahead of me."

He said that on Monday he met his oncologist, who gave him the "low-down" on his future treatment.

Haiu is to have chemotherapy for the Ewings sarcoma, an unusual tumour on a rib, and is hoping for better than the predicted 65 per cent cure rate after five years.

Blues doctor Stephen Kara this week said: "It is a stage-two cancer, which means it has spread just outside the bone into the soft tissue, but is nowhere else.

"So the treatment for this is he will undergo three months of chemotherapy before seeing a surgeon and having the residual tumour taken out.

"He will have six months of chemotherapy after the surgery, so effectively he'll be out of rugby for at least 12 months."

Haiu's specialist had quoted a cure rate of 65 per cent. Before the biopsy was done, medics thought Haiu's diagnosis would be in one of four categories. Unfortunately, his was the worst of the quartet.