League: So-called sex scandal unsaddles Cowboys

One of the most intriguing elements of this NRL season is how the Cowboys - NRL high flyers until recently - will survive the rumour-fuelled sex scandal that may not be a scandal affecting the North Queensland team.

The rumours began circulating last week of a Wayne Carey-like scandal involving a player or players sleeping with the wives of other players. Carey, former captain of the AFL team North Melbourne, was considered one of the game's great forwards.

After his admission of a sexual relationship with Kelli Stevens, wife of close friend and team-mate Anthony Stevens, his career and captaincy effectively came to an end.

The unusual element of the Cowboys scandal is that there appears to be no scandal - but that hasn't stopped the rumours affecting the team.

It has been uggested that two senior players had become intimately involved with other team-mates' partners but no player has been named in connection with the rumours.

In an attempt to avoid a repeat of the Carey incident, the Cowboys went on the offensive.

North Queensland captain Travis Norton and chief executive Peter Parr said the club was forced to act when the rumours landed in the hands of the media. They released a statement to clear the reputations of the players at the centre of the allegations and minimise distractions in the build-up to the finals.

Norton, who is set to retire at the end of the year, denied the rumours had played any part in the club's mid-season form slump. The rumour mill gathered pace at the same time as the losing streak.

"It probably wasn't (affecting the players) a few weeks ago but as they became more widespread then obviously it could have an effect on the players, and the players' wives," Norton told Ninemsn News.

Star back Johnathon Thurston, said to be deeply offended by the innuendo, was reportedly one of the key players in getting the club to speak out against the rumours. A former girlfriend of Thurston's has denied being the source of the rumours.

"They shouldn't have to have their name dragged through the mud. Whoever has made up this rumour has probably seen the form slump we went through and thought 'the players can't be playing bad without something more behind it'," said Norton.

Meanwhile, Warriors captain Steve Price told Sydney's Daily Telegraph that North Queensland must adopt the same "siege mentality" as the Bulldogs - themselves affected by a sex scandal in 2004.

As Bulldogs captain then, Price was a key part of the club's premiership triumph just months after the Coffs Harbour rape crisis threatened to devour the club and called for some of that Bulldog spirit.

"I don't know what the culture is like at the Cowboys, but the culture at the Bulldogs for years has been to survive on a siege mentality," Price said.

"If they are all determined and strong as we were at the Bulldogs, it can galvanise them. I've had rumours about me. They can destroy players, careers and the Cowboys' aspirations.

"It will depend on the inner strength and culture of the club."