Corey Harawira-Naera tried to save a few dollars on an Uber by getting behind the wheel after up to 17 drinks, in a drunken Christmas Day decision that continues to prove costly.
The Canberra Raiders forward was convicted, fined $250 and disqualified from driving for three months when he pleaded guilty in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday to a drink-driving charge.
He had already been banished from first grade by his club and suspended by the NRL from the first two games of this season, while the league also fined the New Zealand Test representative $10,000 earlier this month.
Court documents reveal that Harawira-Naera attended the same drinking session at Assembly in Braddon that led to teammate Corey Horsburgh being busted for drink-driving.
The former Panthers and Bulldogs player celebrated Christmas Eve at that venue before moving on to Fiction nightclub in Civic.
Harawira-Naera, 25, later said he had consumed about 10 beers and six or seven shots of an unspecified beverage between about 6.30pm on Christmas Eve and 3am the next morning.
He returned a breath analysis reading of 0.12 - nearly two-and-a-half times the legal limit - when he was pulled over by police in Belconnen about 4.30am on Christmas Day.
According to officers, Harawira-Naera's eyes were bloodshot and "he had difficulty remembering actions like which way he had turned at the roundabout".
"Police hold the opinion the defendant was well under the influence of alcohol," court documents state.
Harawira-Naera's lawyer, Paul Edmonds, said in court on Thursday that "this was a Christmas Eve celebration with friends ... which unfortunately went wrong".
Mr Edmonds said the second-rower had originally planned to leave his car in the city and catch an Uber home to Belconnen.
But Harawira-Naera decided to drive instead when he and three friends realised they could not all fit in one rideshare vehicle.
This prompted Magistrate James Lawton to remark that "two Ubers would've been a lot cheaper than a $10,000 fine".
Mr Edmonds agreed and said Harawira-Naera accepted that he had made "a poor decision", which he "greatly" regretted.
The lawyer said the 25-year-old also realised he had let down younger players and other people who looked up to NRL stars.
But he pointed out that irrespective of the sentence imposed by the court, Harawira-Naera had already paid a hefty price within rugby league.
Mr Lawton took that and factors such as Harawira-Naera's "clear remorse" into account in sentencing, saying: "A silly decision like this to save $50 or $30 on an Uber has already cost you a lot of money."
The magistrate also said he could give Harawira-Naera "a lot of lectures", but the 25-year-old had already completed a drink-driving program that would have shown him "the real dangers".
Harawira-Naera has already served his driving disqualification period after being served with an immediate suspension notice following the incident.
As he left court, he apologised to his family and friends, as well as the Raiders and the NRL.
"[It was] just a poor judgment on my behalf to put myself in this position," he said.
Harawira-Naera has not been named in either the Raiders' NRL or NSW Cup side for this weekend's matches.
He has only played 11 top-grade games for Canberra since the Raiders threw him a lifeline midway through last season, following his departure from the Bulldogs in the wake of a sex scandal involving Port Macquarie schoolgirls.
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