He had been worshipped on the rugby union field while donning the jumpers of the NSW Waratahs and ACT Brumbies, and was said to be unlucky to be one of the last players cast aside from the Wallabies squad which went on to win the 1991 World Cup.

But there was more than a hint of darkness to the hard-running centre from Wollongong, a sinister side where drug and alcohol addictions had mixed in with wild group sex romps organised over the internet.

And so it was, on his 45th birthday in July, 2015, when his two worlds collided as an out-of-control Wells and his sometimes sex partner, Theresa Anne Blair, plied a 14-year-old girl with alcohol and cannabis before raping her.

Blair had even sat on the girl's chest so the victim wouldn't move as she was being sexually assaulted by Wells, The Newcastle Herald reported.

Later that night, as Wells raped her for a second time, he was to say: "I wish I could get you pregnant and have babies with you but you're too young."

And when the girl woke the following morning, Wells cuddled up to her and said: "Did you have fun."

Newcastle District Court heard that the girl, who was still suffering significantly from the attack, had made an attempt on her life not long after the rape and had completely removed herself from society.

Wells was sentenced on Thursday to six years' jail for the aggravated rape of the young girl at Metford, near Maitland, and will have to serve at least four years before he is eligible for parole.

Blair was handed a jail term of five years and three months with a non-parole period of three years and six months.

The Newcastle Herald