The annual orgy of excess, where players dress up and party down on the Monday following the end of their season, has no place in 2014 Australia.

Public liability, duty of care and common decency dictate a group of young men drinking in public until they drop is a recipe for disaster.

And so it proved in the early hours of Monday morning when the Wests Lions players, on the back of a 12-hour bender, allegedly smashed up a West Tamworth League Club dressing room, destroying windows and doors, setting fire to pallets and chairs, and threatening staff.

Every year, as sure as the winning captain hoists the NRL premiership cup, fans are subjected to a series of grubby Mad Monday headlines.

This week Cronulla Sharks players were captured cavorting with topless waitresses at a Sydney bar, while last week in Melbourne, two AFL players courted controversy by dressing up as Rolf Harris and one of his young victims. 

If the NRL and AFL clubs, with their teams of minders and media managers, can’t stop players acting up then what hope has a bush footy club?

The Wests Lions board, to its credit, has suspended player payments and vowed to sack any players found to be involved in Monday’s rampage.

For the sake of their clubs and the game, they are duty bound to back up their strong words with action.

That Group 4 rugby league doesn’t need such unsavoury publicity is a given.

Poor administration, plummeting crowd and participant numbers and players behaving badly have conspired to put the sport under unprecedented pressure.

The latest saga should be a litmus test for the Wests Lions club and the sport’s local custodians.

Unless stern action is taken, the greatest game of all could beconsigned to a slow, undignified death in Tamworth.