EXCLUSIVE: NRL players might need minders in wake of latest sex tape scandal, says Andrew Johns

NRL players are risk takers by nature who might need minders in public, according to Andrew Johns, in the wake of the latest sex tape drama.

A Parramatta Eels player has been caught up in the latest scandal, with a short video clip circulating on social media of the player having sex with a woman in a public toilet.

The footage was apparently filmed over the cubicle door without their knowledge or consent. The NRL's Integrity Unit is investigating, although there's no suggestion the player has done anything illegal.

Speaking on Immortal Behaviour for Wide World of Sports, Johns said more education for players isn't the answer.

"They get enough education, and you can talk to them until you're blue in the face, but by nature, these guys who play this tough, collision sport, are risk takers," he said.

"Throw in a heap of drink, they're young guys, it's just natural they're going to be out and about, and if they're single, they want to meet girls.

"Throw that all in (and) logic goes out the window."

The Newcastle legend even went so far as to float the idea of players or clubs employing minders to prevent these types of incidents from happening.

"It's a really tough one, everyone is going to say they need more education, they can't get any more education, and they're smart guys, they know right from wrong.

"It gets to the stage, do players need minders? You see the NFL players, the NBA players, they've always got bodyguards with them."

In January 2020, Penrith's Tyrone May was sentenced to 300 hours of community service after pleading guilty to four counts of recording an intimate image without consent, with Magistrate Robyn Denes describing his act as "reprehensible" and "right on the cusp of a custodial sentence."

While the player involved in the latest sex tape incident doesn't appear to have broken any laws, Johns says players need to avoid putting themselves in situations where they can be taken advantage of.

"It just makes me crook, gone are the days where people would look out for each other," he said.

"Now everybody wants to give each other up, there's cameras, it just makes me crook.

"He's done the wrong thing, but what the player did, it's a moral issue and its between him and his family.

"It's not a criminal act. It's a criminal act of the grub that filmed it and sent it out on social media.

"It stinks."

Former New South Wales coach Phil Gould agreed that while nothing illegal had taken place, the player's actions would still be questioned.

"This will be fought on two lines," Gould said on his Six Tackles with Gus podcast.

"One's the player doing that and is that the way the game is to be portrayed.

"But why does someone film it without their knowing and then distribute it amongst the media?

"They (the NRL Integrity Unit) are going to look at whether or not this behaviour is what is expected of an NRL professional footballer, as against what is privacy and where does privacy stop."

According to Johns, players have to realise they can't get away with as much as their mates who don't have the same profile as an NRL player.

"They're young guys, they see all their mates and what they're doing, and they're living a life and having fun, but they're high profile, public people, so you've just got to be so careful," he said.