What saddens me about this whole debacle is the rapidity at which people like Channel Nine have abandonded Matthew Johns. Here we have an event which, by all accounts, was found by the police to be unworthy of pursuit and one in which the 'lady' in question appears to have been a consenting, albeit a slightly pickled, participant who was of age and was responsible for her actions at the time. Now, suddenly, 7 years later in a fit of pique, the 'lady' has decided to resurrect the matter. No doubt someone has advised her this will be good therapy for her. In addition, as he is now a celebrity, MJ is being singled out for retribution. 7 years ago he was just another footballer and it is atrocious that his current success & post football career should now be tarnished over what is essentially a non-event. Group Sex, or as Jeff Corbett so eloquently puts it, gang banging, may not be everyone's idea of a savoury activity, but then neither are other sexual proclivities, but it is not illegal and no doubt there are people other than footballers who practice it. The whole thing stinks and Matthew Johns deserves and should get visible support from his friends, his acquaintances and his business partners.

Thankyou Jeff,for putting this whole thing in perspective. Everyone is confusing this with rape. People should be outraged by sexual abuse but a lot are unaware that gang bangs do occur and people do have regrets afterward. I believe if all parties take responsibility for their shameful behaviuor [to themselves] they will be able to move on and that includes the girl.

if there's nothing wrong with what they did, then people will make that assessment and move on. If it's immoral (subjective assessment) then people will not judge it well and the results are likely to be as has happened over recent days. In most cases the nature of things keeps the punishment in perspective to the incident. By all accounts MJ cheated on his wife. Not an action to be admired, but hardly a hanging offence.

Totally agree with Jeff - it seems the media want to hang Matt Johns for participating in a consensual legal act. Johns has been displayed all over the media but the other participants, male and female, have been given anonimity. You don't have to necessarily agree, or disagree, with the morality of the events but surely this is a case of good old Aussie "Tall Poppy" syndrome.

I wholeheartedly agree. Why do the media do this to people's personal lives? Gangbangs go on every Saturday night somewhere but nobody cares and we all say it's none of our business. Just because certain people are in public profile occupations doesn't give the media the right to rip their lives apart but they always try to justify it. All for money! It's utter greed and sensationalism. What I am perplexed about in this case is why the interviewer didn't ask the girl the simple question "why didn't you leave the room?" And why is this being dragged up 7 years later when no actual charges were laid? Have I missed something in the story somewhere ???

Statement on TV always read by footy players: "I reservedly unapologise ... I mean I aposervedly repologise ... I mean I un-reserv-edly apol-o-gise. There, I got it! Oi boss, what did I do again?"

Well said Jeff. Although group sex is not something I would participate in I do know several people of my generation (55+) and younger who do so. I believe it comes back to a major problem in today's world - no one wants to take responsibility for their decisions/actions. As Matthew Johns stated everyone has something in their life they regret but for most of us this something has been done willingly at the time - if only we all had foresight!

Thank the Lord someone in the media has had the integrity to state what many have been thinking. "Consensual sex" seems to have become another victim of this sordid romp, as a term that just doesn't fit with the agenda of such incredibly credible media outlets like The Daily Telegraph. Whereas the Bulldogs scandal of 2004 was an allegation of gang-rape, this has been nothing of the sort. Tracey Grimshaw's questioning of Johns on A Current Affair went beyond the pale when the issue of abuse of power as a celebrity was brought up. Ms Grimshaw and every other celebrity currently breathing should be careful sailing into those waters. There are very few celebrities who DON'T use their public status for some type of benefit or another. To target Matt Johns on this issue is as ridiculous as it is hypocritical. And as for the woman at the centre of the maelstrom, well I'm sorry she is so traumatised, but I do want to raise these points. At age 18 she was deemed old enough to move machinery around at great speed on public roads; she could cast votes electing the leaders of her country; she was pronounced as having reached an age where she could marry; she could indulge in a desire to drink alcohol. Where do her responsibilities therefore begin and end? The media have continually described her as "young, 19 and very naive" Does that mean yes she assumes all social and legal responsibilities and obligations, but the rest of the world has to take into account her naivety? I wish the world were like that, but we don't live in Lalaland and our real world is a little harsher. And also I am curious about how "post" was it in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Tried by media. Convicted without charge or trial. Hung, drawn, quartered all for a bit of stray sex. None of the others have been identified because they are 'nobodies'. Check out the story in the two Sydney newspapers. You wouldn't think it was the same story. Well said Jeff.

Woah be very careful Jeff. It is her word against it seems half the cronulla sharks team. Just like any other sex/rape incident, it is very difficult to prove either way. It seems this story was known by media outlets and for whatever reason they chose not to run with it at the time. I believe it's because we were at the height of treating footy players like demi-gods. Finally media seems to have started to listen to community outrage at poor behaviour. These guys are living very public lives - THEY ARE PAID VERY WELL TO DO SO. No matter what happened, wherever the truth lies. This young woman was treated with gross disrespect. I believe the moral code of these guys gets slowly stripped away by being treated as demi-gods. They arent', they are usually ill educated, testosterone filled blokes who feel they can do what they want. They can't - that is why we have laws. These laws are drawn from our moral codes. It is our business to make sure that society keeps hold of morals. I sure hope we continue to judge these guys on their behaviour. The Four Corners episode was investigating the entire footy codes behaviour. It's just this particular story was particularly apalling that we are so compelled to comment. Remember the Skaf brothers? They claimed it was all consensual too. So are they entitled to group sex in their private lives without regard to consent? he said.... she said