Revelations this week that Slater told Cory Paterson - a man who has struggled with depression - to "go to your room and have a cry" during a game last Saturday have dented Billy's cred somewhat.

Meanwhile, footage emerged on Channel Nine on Wednesday night of Manly coach Des Hasler knocking a door off its hinges at Parramatta Stadium. The station claimed Manly had threatened it with a complete ban if the video - captured by a 'lipstick cam' - was shown.

I believe these are just awkward footsteps along a road our game first took 15 to 20 years ago - the road to bringing the values of a tough,working class, macho game into line with those of wider society.

A couple of decades ago, playing rugby league was like enduring an 80-minute mugging. Elbows to the jaw, eye gouging, Christmas holds, biting, all-in-brawls, you name it. They were all par for the course.

In the early eighties - largely in response to more in-depthy media coverage led by television - there was an attempt to clean things up. Jim Comans took over the disciplinary committee in Sydney and handed out marathon suspensions.

But sledging went unpoliced. One of the players involved in the Ben Alexander car accident, which claimed the Penrith player's life, was asked by an opposition halfback a few months later "who's driving you home tonight?"

Race was also on the menu for exponents of "mental disintegration" .

Off the field, some players continued to behave badly. The damage to hotel property done by touring teams, all hushed up, was legion. Players recording an early promo commercial for Super League in Australia turned a portable toilet compartment upside down with someone inside.

Gang bangs, drinking binges and antisocial behaviour were, if not common, certainly present.

The advent of sportsears in Australia allowed common decency to cross the sideline. When Parramatta coach Brian Smith instructed his players to exploit during a game the poor relationship Brisbane's Gorden Tallis had with referees, the device made the tactic transparent.

Parramatta players confirmed it had been a strategy and Smith and Tallis fell out for a while. Players and referees had to watch their Ps and Qs - at least around the microphone.

Then came the rise of celebrity-obsessed gossip journalism. Now players lives away from the field were also subject to accountability. Wes Naiqama was photographed driving while suspended. One player was even exposed for parking in a handicapped spot.

Matthew Johns, whose new show starts on Thursday night, was the biggest victim of this period. Players cleaned up their act. They were more careful around women. Some even put themselves on alcohol bans.

Players still said unsavoury things to each other away from the ref and his mic. Until now. Coaches still punched holes in walls and kicked doors, with some cash and a cover-up ensuring they got away with it. Until now.

Andrew Johns says the Slater incident is political correctness gone mad. Maybe it is. But society cannot pass judgement on something if society never finds out about it.

Rugby league's closet will soon be bereft of skeletons. And it will be better off for it.

(Steve Mascord also writes for rugbyleague.com.)