Western Storm's Darryn Adam Thomas, 21, pleaded guilty to the assault in July.

The court heard a drunk Thomas punched a man in the head after asking the victim if he was gay.

Sentence was delayed to allow Thomas to start complying with community service orders from a prior incident.

Yesterday magistrate Reg Marron told Thomas's lawyer, Mark Doyle, that he'd warned his client that anything less than a glowing report from Community Corrections would land the footballer in jail.

"This is a pretty nasty matter," he said.

The matter was adjourned to September 12 with an arrest warrant to be activated if Thomas fails to appear.