An ex-AFL star who copped a hefty fine for driving an unregistered car while drunk and unlicensed offered a bizarre excuse in court.
Sydney Stack, 22, who was delisted by Richmond at the end of last season after a string of off-field misdemeanours, was convicted and fined $1000 in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
The defender/forward didn’t appear in court but instead a short email detailing his excuses was read to the court, which said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there. Thank you for your time.”
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Prosecutors said the ex-Richmond gun told police he had been trying to “catch the light” and said he thought his manager had “sorted out” his car registration. Judicial Registrar Michael Gurvich fined Stack $1000 and convicted him for the charges, while his licence was suspended for 10 months effective from September 10. Stack, who finished third in the 2019 Rising Star awards, played 35 games for Richmond over four seasons. But his blossoming AFL career was frequently marred by off-field indiscretions, such as a 2020 brawl outside a Gold Coast strip club. In December that year, Stack was also jailed in his native Western Australia for breaching quarantine restrictions. Stack had multiple earlier driving offences in Victoria and possessed three prior matters from WA, prosectors told the court. He has returned to WA, where he is expected to play for his boyhood WAFL side, the Perth Demons, in the upcoming season.
