Could have been worse, he could have done this...
A former rugby league first grader says he's sorry for biting off part of a man's finger during an alcohol-fuelled pub brawl on the Gold Coast.
Ex-Gold Coast Seagulls player Scott Freestone, 44, awaits sentencing in the Southport District Court after pleading guilty to two counts of unlawful assault in November 2007.
He admitted to biting off part of Peter McLaughlin's middle finger during a melee outside the Coolangatta Sands Hotel.
It was the end result of more than a decade of bad blood between the pair who had sworn to steer clear of each other after another scuffle in 1994.
The two had met by chance at the pub and started bickering before the fight got physical.
McLaughlin's middle finger of his right hand was cleanly amputated through the bone and half a nail bitten off.
Freestone's lawyer, who asked for a non-custodial sentence for his client, told the court Freestone was extremely remorseful and he had since been diagnosed with depression.
Judge Fleur Kingham is expected to hand down her sentence later on Friday.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/827583/ex-league-player-sorry-for-finger-bite