If Matthew Johns is looking for one positive out of this week he can probably thank his lucky stars this isn't the late 17th century.

If it was he'd be burning at the stake right now, because in my opinion Johns is at the heart of an elaborate witch hunt.

Now before you all lay in to me and tell me I should be ashamed of myself for siding with him, let's get one thing straight.

As I said in my blog earlier this week I am disgusted by what has emerged in relation to the alleged sex scandal involving the Cronulla Sharks and a 19-year-old woman in Christchurch in 2002.

And I think the other blokes who were in the room need to stand up and act like men and take a bit of responsibility for what's happened.

My opinion hasn't changed on that and I still believe it will not be long before a league player is in jail as a result of one of these "group sex sessions" if the clubs and the NRL do not take more action to stop them.

But, in light of the extra details that have emerged this week I do think Johns has been made to pay a horrendous cost for his part in this.

He has lost his career and his reputation as a result of a report that in my opinion sought to do nothing but throw rugby league into turmoil.

Again, I have to restate the fact that I do not condone the actions of the players involved.

In fact I find it morally reprehensible.

And that is exactly what we're talking about in this case.

The New Zealand Police have reinforced the fact that they found no reason to take further action following the complaint and they are, as they were at the time, sufficiently confident that there was no case to answer from a legal perspective.

We are talking about morals here.

And some of us have a different view of what is morally correct and what is not.

That's the way it's been since Adam was a boy.

But it's not just Matthew Johns and the Cronulla Sharks that are on "trial" here.

It's rugby league in general.

And that, to me, is an absolute travesty.

I love my league and I love to throw it in the faces of the rugby fanatics when I can.

I love the idea of being able to talk about how great this game is on comparison to the boring state of union.

And I love the fact it usually gets a few people blowing steam out their ears.

But I hate it when they counter my argument with the off-the-field scandals and stick the boot in to the fact that league's reputation is tarnished by the amount of bad press we get from a few bad apples.

It's time to get the game cleaned up that's for sure and maybe this is the alarm bell that will make it happen.