Can we go through one NRL season without a player getting in strife?

Dragons centre 'bit woman on leg'

Even a month without some sort of scandal would be a good start.

Rugby league's image just seems to be going downhill and the only ones that can turn it around is the players themselves.

I feel sorry for Dave Smith and the other people at NRL head office sometimes for what they have to put up with.

Some days they must just sit at their desks scratching their heads and wondering why they bother.

Now we have two guys - Jacob Loko and Jorge Taufua - facing penalties for their own dust-up outside a Sydney club last weekend.

What's wrong with these guys?

I was never a saint, but you have got to respect the fact you're a role model for young kids.

On top of the Loko-Taufua incident, the Dragons are now investigating Dane Nielsen for another alleged alcohol-fuelled indiscretion.

Whether or not Nielsen is found guilty of anything, it's another black mark on the NRL, the Dragons, and rugby league in general.

The common denominator appears to be alcohol.

People can do stupid things while sober, too, but it's fair to say the majority of these incidents happen during drinking sessions out on the town.

There's no problem at all with young guys enjoying a few beers with their mates.

In fact it's been a way of bonding among sporting teams for decades.

The issue comes when those few beers turn into lots of beers, mixed with whatever else they can get their hands on.

From a witness report, Nielsen was in such a bad way on Sunday night that he could hardly walk - or talk.

That's yet to be confirmed or denied but, as I said before, the damage is already done to the game's image.

The fact is he was probably way too drunk to be out and about.

There's no excuse for that behaviour, obviously, but I can't help feeling the current lifestyle of a professional footballer certainly doesn't help the situation.

These guys are constantly told by their clubs not to drink during the week, before games and even when they're in recovery.

The occasions when they are actually allowed to enjoy a beer are quite rare, maybe even as rare as once every few weeks.

So of course when they are given a free pass to go out on the drink, they overdo it.

Gone are the days when players would have an esky of beers waiting for them in the change room after each game.

It was a way to blow off steam and relax after running around for 80 minutes on the park.

Maybe if players were allowed to drink more often, they wouldn't feel the need to fit a month's worth of alcohol into one night.

I'm not sure if there's a magic solution to stop NRL players making trouble for themselves, but if there is we need to figure it out quick.

Hopefully James Graham was having a laugh when he said it should be the players who decide whether they are concussed or not.

It's a ridiculous notion and the NRL bosses are too smart to pay attention to it.

Whenever I was concussed during my career I didn't know if I was Arthur or Martha.

Clubs have doctors and medical staff to protect the welfare of players. The players are employed to play, not give an injury prognosis.

Listen to your doctors, James, and you just worry about shaping up each week.