KEY POINTS:
As the TV ad currently circulating says, the NRL has more. More big hits, more line breaks, more tries. And, of course, more boofheads.
For fans of the off-field indiscretions of leaguies, this year's pre-season has started in hugely promising fashion - a drive-by shooting, a DUI sacking and a clutch of late-night assaults before a ball's even been banana kicked towards the wing.
Promising, sure, but the class of 2008 has a long way to go before they crack the big time.
1 . JULIAN O'NEILL
The rap sheet of O'Neill, the godfather of rugby league rogues, is truly breathtaking. While still a young up-and-comer at the Brisbane Broncos, the mercurial standoff first courted trouble by allegedly urinating under a blackjack table and threatening a dealer at Conrad Jupiters casino.
Things rather went downhill from there. He was sacked by both the Brisbane and London Broncos within a year for separate drink-driving incidents before the Western Reds sacked him over a driving offence.
In 1999 the former Queensland and Australia rep was back in the headlines, this time for trashing a Dubbo hotel room.
Somehow during South Sydney's pre-season knees-up, vomit and faeces ended up on the walls of O'Neill's motel room. In what became known as the "poo in the shoe affair", O'Neill said it was other revellers, and not himself, who defecated in team-mate Jeremy Schloss' shoes.
Perhaps the crowning glory came in 2004 when, on a pre-season tour of Australia with English club Widnes, O'Neill was accused of trying to set fire to a 13-year-old boy who was wearing a foam rubber dolphin suit during a river cruise. As the matter threatened to get out of hand, O'Neill stripped to his underwear, dived into the Hastings River and swam ashore.
2. ADRIAN MORLEY
Presently cracking skulls for Warrington in the English Super League, Mozza - as he is affectionately known - has taken an interactive approach to clearing his somewhat besmirched name. An audio link on the BCC sport website is titled: Morley - "I am not a psycho".
Some might disagree, including the victims of the offences for which he served 11 suspensions during a six-year NRL career. Former NZRL chairman Andrew Chalmers described the former Roosters enforcer as a "maniac" after a high shot on Awen Guttenbeil in last year's festival match between Northern Union and the All Golds.
Morley escaped punishment for that hit but he hasn't evaded justice.
The 2003 Think! Don't Drink and Drive ashes series against Britain didn't go well for Morley. Not only did he chalk up the fastest sending off in the international game's history (officially timed at 12 seconds but the offence was at the 3s mark) for pole-axing Kangaroo forward Robbie Kearns, he also lost his driver's licence.
His offence was drink-driving.
3. JOHN HOPOATE
Sportsman, family man and amateur proctologist, a rare beast among sportsmen, Hopoate had an impact so profound he had a move named after him. Unfortunately for Hopoate, that move is the insertion of a finger into an opponent's backside.
Already with a disciplinary record that could charitably be described as checkered, Hopoate's career looked to have hit the skids completely in 2001 when he was found guilty of digitally penetrating three Cowboys. The muscle-bound winger went for the "wedgie" defence, but it didn't wash with the judiciary, or his victims.
"It wasn't a wedgie," said Cowboy Peter Jones in what must one of the greatest quotes in sport. "That's when your pants are pulled up your arse. I think I know the difference between a wedgie and someone sticking their finger up my bum."
Amazingly, Hopoate survived and, after a lengthy suspension, he was back in the game. A flying elbow to the head of Cronulla forward Keith Galloway ended it all in 2005.
Despite apologising to his wife Brenda and his eight children, Hopoate was sacked by Manly. He has since turned to boxing.
4. ANDREW JOHNS
249 first grade matches, 23 Origin games, 21 tests, three Dally Ms, two Golden Boots and one ecstasy tablet - the numbers that sum up the career of Joey Johns.
Having evaded would-be tacklers with consummate ease throughout a career that saw him lauded as one of, if not the, greatest of all time, it is ironic that Johns was finally undone by the British transport police.
Miami Vice, the BTP are not. In terms of drug smuggling, Johns' failure to negotiate a London Tube station with a single ecstasy tablet in his pocket must rate as a colossal failure. But not as colossal as that of the NRL drug testers who failed to detect his self-confessed decade of pill popping while a player.
Johns' fall from grace was a shock to many - but not to anyone who knew him, or even the Australian Rugby Union, which knew in 2004.
The jury is still out on how Johns' revelation that he was a druggie throughout much of his career will tarnish his legacy.
It's unlikely parents will hold him up as much of a role model any more. But for those who've long held that ingesting the odd illegal substance doesn't necessarily make someone crap at their job, he has become a bit of a poster boy.
A rogue in sheep's clothing.
THIS SEASON'S CONTENDERS
Jarryd Hayne: Having turned down big bucks to stick with the Eels because his mum told him to, Hayne shook off his mummy's boy tag by dodging a bullet in an early morning Kings Cross drive-by. More motherly advice may be required.
Sonny Bill Williams: After a series of grog-related incidents that culminated in being snapped, quite literally, with ironwoman Candice Falzon in the loo of a Sydney bar, Sonny has sworn off the bottle. But has the bottle sworn off Sonny?
Sione Faumuina: Having been bundled out of Auckland after a run of booze-related incidents, Faumuina seemed to have turned over a new leaf at the Cowboys. But his 2007 season ended with a seven-game suspension that ruled him out of the playoffs and the start of this year's campaign.
Ben Roberts: A recent night out for the Kiwis and Bulldogs standoff ended with his being kinghit by a member of the public and then pepper-sprayed by police, who charged him with resisting arrest.
