St George Illawarra Dragons playmaker Junior Amone has been found guilty of assault and faces a maximum sentence of 14 years when he is sentenced in December.
The 21-year-old was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, destroying property and intimidation after Amone and his father got into an altercation with two tradesmen in Wollongong on November 15 2022.
Amone has since been stood down by the Dragons and The Daily Telegraph’s Michael Carayannis believes his playing career is all but over.
“He’s staring at the real prospect of jail time,” Carayannis said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“He will be unavailable (for the Dragons) for sure.
“He will not be at the Dragons next year and even if he’s not sentenced to jail, there will be some major ramifications.
“We will just have to wait until December.
“It’s a delicate situation that has turned into a dire one for the Dragons.”
This latest development is a massive blow for the Dragons who are limited in their options to replace Amone at five-eighth.
Carayannis said the first priority for incoming coach Shane Flanagan will be to find a halves partner for disgruntled captain Ben Hunt whose future at the club is on shaky ground.
“The Dragons are now in a massive hole,” Carayannis added.
“They let Jayden Sullivan go to the Wests Tigers and they are now very skinny in the halves.
“Kyle Flanagan now looms as an option after signing as a backup hooker and half because there is no one else there.
“There is no one on the marketplace available for next year that would change that roster.
“If Ben Hunt left, there would be no one there and that’s why the Dragons stood so firm.
“He’s a one-man show.
“Shane Flanagan now has a severely weakened roster for next year and for mine, it’s the worst roster heading into the NRL next year.”