The Joel Monaghan scandal is going global with newspaper columnists, bloggers and the general public laying into the Canberra rugby league star - and Australians - over the dog sex simulation scandal.

Twenty years ago the incident may have remained largely for local audiences, but the unseemly incident has attracted worldwide attention.

Understandably our closest neighbours have taken the ball and run with it - the NZ Herald, stuff.co.nz and scoop.co.nz all featuring stories.

Radio Live NZ ran the `ten best Joel Monaghan dog tweets' on its website.

But the story is spreading much further than across the Tasman.

The UK Guardian's Andy Wilson cut straight to the chase saying Monaghan "has joined the Australian game's extensive hall of shame after an incident that could bring a premature and humiliating end to the former Test back's career."

The Scottish Daily Record was amongst a number of UK news sites to run with the story, which seems to be garnering the most unwanted international coverage for rugby league since the infamous John Hopoate bottom-poking scandal.

While time differences mean the worst may be yet to come in print in the United States, bloggers have had a field day with Las Vegas-based sportsmonitor.com and deadspin dedicating online space to Monaghan.

Several American bloggers have raised the issue of NFL star Michael Vick - whose indiscretions with dogs related to an illegal fighting racket with the animals.

But perhaps the most savage international response came after an article posted about the incident on the newstime.co.za website, among a string of South African media outlets that had the story.

While the unnamed author light-heartedly concluded: "The one upside to all of this for rugby league fans - and indeed all of Australia - is that this should put an end to sheepshagger jokes for a while." - a respondent wasn't nearly as jovial.

"When is Australia going to get control of its neanderthal, beer-swilling, face-glassing, woman-bashing, stove-throwing, marauding teams of obscene footballers," the respondent wrote.

"Stop the slap on the wrist punishments! The world is laughing at the uncouth, unrefined, and uneducated country that is Australia. Instead of eradicating the inherent violence in your DNA, you stoke it by not taking swift and severe action against your drunken, derelict citizens."

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