The men charged with the deadly assault of Brisbane teenager Cole Miller are said to be devastated, as they face hefty jail terms under tough new laws.
As allegations emerged that alleged attacker Daniel Maxwell thought the assault would be "funny", Maxwell's lawyer said his client, behind bars for the first time, wasn't laughing.
"He's devastated by what's occurred," defence counsel Michael Bosscher told reporters after the New Zealand-born 21-year-old faced court on the upgraded charge of unlawful striking causing death.
"He feels nothing but the greatest sympathy for the family of the victim.
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"He's only a young man himself. It was his birthday on the evening in question.
"He has no friends or family really here in Australia, they're all in New Zealand, so obviously he's doing it tough."
Police allege there's evidence that before Maxwell and friend Armstrong Renata attacked Mr Miller, Maxwell punched another person and tried to assault two others.
He allegedly admitted saying to friends, "do you want to see something funny" shortly before Cole was attacked, according to a sworn police statement filed in court.
Mr Miller died from massive head trauma on Monday, just over 24 hours after the assault in Fortitude Valley's Chinatown Mall early on Sunday.
Renata, 21, is alleged to have delivered the fatal blow after Maxwell challenged Mr Miller and a friend to a fight and began throwing punches.
The pair was remanded in custody in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Both face maximum life imprisonment terms if convicted under tough one-punch laws introduced by the former government.
Mr Miller represented Brisbane and Queensland in water polo and had looked set to follow in his Olympian brother Billy's footsteps.
His death sparked tributes from the water polo community and the wider public.
By Tuesday afternoon more than 2500 people had signed up on Facebook to attend a rally in his honour in Brisbane on Monday.
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