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ARU boss Bill Pulver has conceded an earlier crackdown on James O'Connor's behaviour could have prevented Thursday's strong wake-up call for the troubled star being necessary.
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Pulver announced O'Connor would be released from the remaining months of his current contract, and would not be offered an ARU top-up contract for 2014, due to a long list of disciplinary issues.
O'Connor will still be able to play Super Rugby but the ARU decision equates to an estimated $500,000 pay cut; opening the door for the 23-year-old to depart Australian rugby.
Though brought to a head by the Perth airport incident, Pulver said the tough penalty was a result of the "cumulative impact" of O'Connor's bulging disciplinary file in the ARU Human Resources' office, dating back several years.
"If you look at any one of these incidents in isolation, none of them as far as I'm aware was life threatening, none involved breaking the law but when you look at the cumulative impact, they in total represent unacceptable behaviour," Pulver said.
"When I look back at James's record, there have been many instances where he has been counselled and sadly his behaviour has not responded in the way we felt appropriate."
Many in Australian rugby have felt that a lack of tougher action on O'Connor for each episode emboldened the youngster to continue acting with disrespect for teammates, and occasionally the public.
Asked if harsher action than simply "counselling" in preceding years could have prevented the need for the drastic course of action - which opens the door to potentially losing O'Connor for good - Pulver said: "I think that's probably a very fair question."
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"When you look at the incidents on James's record, in many ways there were a lot of not exactly uniquely serious incidents," he added.
"It's a long list of behavioural concerns which when you look at them cumulatively warrant this sort of action. It's fair to say we should have responded more firmly historically and maybe we wouldn't be where we are today."
Pulver was unwilling to put any blame towards Robbie Deans, however, who has been accused of enabling O'Connor's behaviour by using a soft disciplinary touch, and even defending him from media.
Pulver refused to confirm whether O'Connor had been in a fight with Kurtley Beale and Quade Cooper in Paris in 2010; an event teammates confirm happened but was denied by Deans and the ARU.
"I don't want to go into individual issues inside James's record, I think that's a private matter between the ARU and James and so I'm just not prepared to confirm that," Pulver said.
"I don't want this to become an issue relating to Robbie Deans."
Pulver said he hoped O'Connor took the chance to "redeem himself" at Western Force, and admitted he had spoken with Force CEO Mark Sinderberry about signing the 44-Test back.
The Force released a statement saying they were encouraging O'Connor to take time out to consider his future, but would keep a door open for negotiations.
Pulver said cracking down on behavioural issues and keeping rugby's "core values" was a priority not only for cultural reasons, but to safeguard endorsement and sponsorship revenue from companies keen to align with respectable athletes.
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