A New Zealand judge has criticised the drunken behavior of some of New Zealand's sports stars while discharging rugby league international Logan Swann without conviction on a charge of common assault.

"People have the wrong impression that guys like you with celebrity status can get away with bad behavior under the influence of high intoxicants, just because you are sporting celebrities," Judge Avinash Deobhakta told Swann on Thursday.

The judge aid he was "particularly irked" that sports people expected favourable treatment when they appeared before the courts.

"Let this be a salutary lesson to you that this will be the last time you will get a discharge," he said.

Swann, who is about to join the English club Warrington, pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay the victim of the May assault.

He was the latest of a number of New Zealand sports stars to face charges arising from drunken behavior.

Olympic cyclist Hayden Roulston, due to join Lance Armstrong's Discovery team in the United States, was convicted last week on two assault charges. Rugby player Ma'a Nonu recently completed a period of community service after being involved in a scuffle outside a Wellington bar.

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