Former AFL footballer Brian Lake has been convicted of assault after poking a security guard in the nose.
The Hawthorn premiership player was also ordered to pay a $900 fine over the September 2019 incident at Crown Casino.
Lake and a friend had been drinking at an event when they decided to head to the casino.
A security guard let him in but refused entry to his friend.
"As he was walking away, for no reason except immaturity and frustration, he poked the side of the nose of the security guard who had refused his friend entry," his lawyer Will Parker said in written submissions.
Lake was detained by the another security guard until police arrived.
Lake pleaded guilty to assault over the incident.
The court heard he had significantly changed his drinking habits, no longer binge-drinking while remaining a social drinker.
He spent time in rehab in Melbourne and Thailand in 2018 and has undergone alcohol treatment conditions as part of a previous court order.
Magistrate Timothy Bourke said the 38-year-old was someone the community may look up to and there's no reason he shouldn't continue down a path of rehabilitation.
"He offers no excuse for his actions and accepts responsibility. He pleads guilty, which is indicative of remorse and insight into his offending," he said.
Lake played for Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs in the AFL between 2002 and 2015 and later went on to appear on Australian Survivor.
