BRISBANE - New Zealand rugby league international Sione Faumuina has been left with a A$1,000 ($1238) bill after smashing a mirror at a Brisbane nightspot.
The 27-year-old, who left the North Queensland Cowboys at the end of the NRL season, pleaded guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court to chargesof wilful damage and drunk and disorderly.
The court heard Faumuina threw a bottle into a mirror at the Uber nightclub in West End on September 11 after security personnel asked him to leave.
Defence solicitor Campbell MacCallum told the court his client had been on a self-imposed alcohol ban for the NRL season and was on his first night out for several months.
"It was the first good time he'd had in a number of months," he said.
"He was not out of control at any time."
Mr MacCallum said his client had become frustrated when staff asked him to leave the venue without giving him a reason.
Uber, which made headlines earlier this year following a drunken incident involving Cronulla player Greg Bird, last week announced a ban on high profile footballers.
Mr MacCallum said the Cowboys had already fined Faumuina A$8,000 for breaching the club's code of conduct.
Faumuina is due to move to the UK in November to begin a one-year contract with English Super League club Castleford.
Magistrate Paul Kluck fined Faumuina A$400 and ordered him to pay A$682 to Uber for the damage he caused.
Faumuina declined to comment outside court but defence solicitor Mr MacCallum said he regretted his actions.
"He's obviously remorseful for his actions, he demonstrated that today in court," he told reporters.
"He's just looking forward to playing rugby league in England in a couple of months time."
