It is less than three months since Joel Monaghan received a telephone call from his younger sister, Danielle, that turned his world upside down. "She had been sent the photo," he said today, speaking publicly for the first time since pictures of his drunken, dog‑related depravity that followed Canberra Raiders' end-of-season celebrations last October found their way on to the internet. "That hurt. The hardest thing was seeing the family dragged down into it as well. It was my stupid mistake but they copped a lot of it."

Monaghan, a skilful three-quarter who played for Australia in the 2008 World Cup final, immediately gave up his Canberra contract to save them the embarrassment of sacking him and feared that he would be forced to retire at the age of 28. "It was pretty dark, pretty bleak. There was a time there I thought it might be over. I don't think I slept a wink in that week once I knew it was all going to be coming out. It was a rough time."

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