It was the simulated sex act with a small dog that could potentially end the NRL career of Mitchell Pearce.

The Roosters captain's act joins a long list of bad behaviour that has blackened the annals of league history.

From the criminal and violent to the just plain stupid, here are the most notable scandals that have embroiled some of the NRL's most celebrated players.

Bulldogs' Coffs Harbour scandal

Novotel Pacific Bay Resort in Coffs Harbour. Photo: Steve Christo

Possibly the most disturbing allegations levelled at league players. Six unnamed players were accused of gang raping a 20-year-old woman in the Novotel Pacific Bay Resort in Coffs Harbour in February 2004.

After investigations marred by claims of mismanagement, the director of public prosecutions ruled there was insufficient evidence to launch a prosecution.

Blake Ferguson nightclub assault

Blake Ferguson walks out of Waverley Police Station on 17 June 2013. Photo: Edwina Pickles

Ferguson was convicted of indecently assaulting a 24-year-old woman at a Cronulla nightclub while out celebrating his State of Origin selection in 2013.

The winger was found guilty of grabbing her vagina under her skirt at the 2230 nightclub and slapped with a two-year good behaviour bond.

Russell Packer punches down man  

Russell Packer was handed a two-year jail sentence for assault over his drunken incident. Photo: Nick Moir

Packer was jailed for two years for repeatedly punching a 22-year-old man lying on the ground and stomping on his head in Sydney in 2013. Packer was previously fined $15,000 for urinating in his shorts during a televised NRL match.

Greg Bird glasses his girlfriend

Greg Bird had his sentence overturned on appeal. He is pictured here in March 2015 after appearing at Southport Magistrates Court on a different matter. Photo: Getty Images

Bird was sentenced to a maximum of 16 months' jail in 2009 for attacking his girlfriend with a broken bottle. The sentence was overturned on appeal after the court ruled that the glassing was the accidental result of a scuffle instigated by Bird's girlfriend.

Bird lost his contract with Cronulla as a result of the incident.

Robert Lui's domestic violence conviction

Robert Lui, who now plays for the Cowboys, assaulted his girlfriend in 2012.  Photo: Getty Images

The North Queensland player was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond and fined $2000 for assaulting his girlfriend in 2012.

A Sydney court heard the Tigers player kicked 22-year-old Taleah Rae Backo in the temple and headbutted her during Mad Monday celebrations. Lui pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm.

Cronulla sex scandal 

Matthew Johns recovered from the sex scandal to enjoy a career in the media after addressing the issue publicly. Photo: Wolter Peeters

A 2002 ABC Four Corners investigation revealed Sharks captain Matthew Johns and five other Cronulla players had consensual sex with a 19-year-old woman, providing sordid entertainment for their six teammates who watched on.

Mark Gasnier's lewd 4am message

Dragons player Mark Gasnier at WIN stadium during training in 2004. Photo: Adam Mclean

The St George Illawarra centre was sacked from the NSW State of Origin squad in 2004 after leaving an offensive message on a 27-year-old woman's voicemail:

"[woman's name where the f--- are you? There's four toey humans in the cab and it's twenty-to-four. Our c---s are fat and f---ing ready to spurt sauce, and you're in bed. F--- me fire up, you sad c---".

Joel Monaghan doggy-style

Joel Monaghan announces his resignation from the Canberra Raiders on November 9, 2010. Photo: Karleen Minney, Canberra Times

Pearce's recent behaviour was reminiscent of the infamous image of the Canberra star and Australian centre in the throes of simulating a sex act with a dog during the 2010 Raiders' Mad Monday celebrations. During the fall out, which saw the photograph published on international news sites, a teary Monaghan quit the Raiders in disgrace.

Todd Carney's bubbler

Todd Carney leaves Raiders' HQ after being sacked in 2008. Photo: Andrew Taylor

The lauded 2010 Dally M winner ran the gauntlet of personal scandals, including drink-driving, and urinating on a member of the public in a Canberra pub in 2008.

Carney was sacked from three clubs as a result of his night-time activities, but the most memorable indiscretion was a photograph showing the star player urinating into his own mouth.

Paul Gallen's galling behaviour

Paul Gallen was suspended for racial slurs in 2009. Photo: Getty Images

In 2009, Paul Gallen was suspended and fined $50,000 for racial slurs directed at Mickey Paea. That same year he was arrested for urinating next to a person's head in a public place. In 2008, Gallen attempted to rip the stitches from a head wound suffered by Gold Coast forward Anthony Laffranchi.

The Hopoate move

John Hopoate was suspended in 2001 for a disturbing on-field infringement. Photo: James Brickwood

Manly winger John Hopoate was suspended for 12 weeks in 2001 after he shoved his finger into the anuses of three Cowboys players during a 2001 game.

Pearce's previous poor form

Mitchell Pearce also found trouble at Sydney's Beach Haus nightclub in 2014. Photo: Getty Images

In 2014, the Roosters star was suspended and fined $20,000 for the "yellow dress" incident in which he allegedly groped a woman wearing a yellow dress at a nightclub and was kicked out by police officers.

Bulldogs allegedly target reporter

Received complaint about alleged verbal abuse by Bulldogs players ... The then Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs CEO Todd Greenberg. Photo: Mick Tsikas

Channel Nine reporter Jayne Azzopardi made an official complaint to Canterbury Chief Executive Todd Greenberg after allegedly copping abuse during her coverage of Mad Monday. Bulldogs players could be heard yelling "S--- me off dumb dog" and "I want to go and punch you in the face" through a slightly open window in a report aired by Channel Nine.

Nate Myles 'the squatter'

Nate Myles was suspended for six matches after an infamous incident in a hotel hallway in 2009. Photo: Getty Images

Myles was suspended for six matches and fined $50,000 for defecating in the corridor of a Terrigal hotel after locking himself out of his room. The Roosters player had tried to get into the suite occupied by family and was later found naked and disoriented on the fire escape staircase.

Josh Dugan's rooftop happy snap

Dragons fullback Josh Dugan, right, arrives at a judiciary hearing on July 29, 2015 for an unrelated matter. Photo: Sahlan Hayes

Dugan and then-Raiders teammate Ferguson went AWOL from training and were spotted drinking alcopops on a rooftop, breaching the club's strict alcohol policy. Dugan was sacked after he decided to take a photo of himself flipping someone the bird during the rooftop romp, and posted it to Instagram.

Julian O'Neill and the poo in the shoe

Julian O'Neill playing for the Rabbitohs.

The South Sydney player was publicly humiliated and fined $10,000 after he defecated in the shoe of his teammate Jeremy Schlosser on a pre-season trip to Dubbo in 1999. "I just shat in Schlossy's shoe," O'Neill reportedly uttered before his faeces was smeared on towels and thrown onto the motel's roof.

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