A banned ex-NRL player has avoided jail for spitting in the face of a woman who interrupted him in a pub pokies room and made insulting comments about his stalled career.
Talatau Junior Amone pleaded guilty to assault over the incident at the Hotel Illawarra in Wollongong in the early hours of a Sunday in August.
He was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday, which will subject him to supervision and a requirement to be of good behaviour.
The 22-year-old must also perform 150 hours of community service work and abstain from drinking alcohol for the period of the order.
CCTV footage of the incident captured Amone and the woman in the gaming room of the pub before an argument broke out.
The woman approached Amone, who had been out drinking, while he was looking at the screen of a poker machine, defence lawyer Angela Cook previously told the court.
Amone and the woman previously had a "fleeting intimate interaction" but there were no plans for them to meet that night, Ms Cook said.
The ex-NRL player asked the woman "do I know you?" and she replied "don't play dumb with me", according to court documents.
The argument started when the woman said "insulting things" about Amone's family and his career, Ms Cook said.
"It was sensitive at the time and remains sensitive," she said.
"There was a significant crumbling and impact on a career that he had pursued and pursued and pursued and it had fallen apart."
In response, Amone began abusing the woman, calling her a variety of offensive words before spitting in her face.
"What occurs is a brief, short, impulsive, spontaneous and unplanned act," Ms Cook said.
Magistrate Michael Love previously described Amone's actions as "disgusting and reprehensible" but said he would rather see him repay the community than serve jail time.
The ex-St George Illawarra Dragons five-eighth had his $500,000 contract torn up in 2023 and is unable to be registered in the NRL until at least 2026 after a hammer attack on a tradesman.
Amone was sentenced to a 24-month intensive correction order in June 2024 after the violent confrontation with the man, who had parked on a neighbouring property in November 2022.
He smashed the man's car windscreen with the hammer before climbing onto a roof and chasing the victim, who fell from a building and hit an air-conditioning unit on the way down.
The NRL has been contacted for comment on Amone's playing status.
