JOURNALIST Paul Kent and Rugby League Hall of Famer Gorden Tallis have engaged in a fiery debate on air over South Sydney’s sext scandal and what punishment, if any, should be handed down by the NRL.

Speaking on Triple M’s Sunday NRL show, Kent confirmed the NRL Integrity Unit are currently investigating the incident in conjunction with South Sydney and will reach a decision early this week.

Kent said Sam Burgess, whose social media accounts are believed to be at the centre of inappropriate exchanges with a 23-year-old woman, could be stood down for the Rabbitohs’ preliminary final against the Roosters on Saturday night.

Tallis then launched into a defence of the players involved, questioning whether sending a nude ‘selfie’ is illegal and saying ‘the world has gone mad’.

“Stand him down for a photo? Did he break the law?” Tallis said, kickstarting the debate with Kent.

“Yep,” Kent replied.

“Paul, we have a segment called Tinder [on Triple M]. Who hasn’t sent a selfie?” Tallis said, to which Kent responded: “Gorden, it wasn’t a conversation of a sexual nature, from what I’m understanding. It was a FaceTime phone call to a fan. I think they’re vastly different.”

Tallis, unaware of the specifics of the story, went on to say that the woman should have ended the call and not have engaged in any further interactions.

“She did, she hung up immediately as soon as he exposed himself and then he tried to call back three times, she refused to take the call, and the following morning sent an email to the club saying that she was offended by it and she wanted an apology,” Kent said.

Tallis then said: “I think the world has gone mad.”

“What is she doing on the Tinder account, what is she looking for?”

Kent then told Tallis to “shut up, you don’t know what you’re talking about”.

Although the nude pictures are believed to have been sent from Burgess’ social media accounts, it has not been confirmed which Rabbitohs players were involved in the sext affair.

Kent said he believes the offence should be taken as seriously as Mitchell Pearce’s infamous dog incident in early 2016.

“You talk about consistency, Mitchell Pearce is in a loungeroom, he’s drunk and skylarking, he picks up a dog and pretends as a bit of a joke to play with the dog, some guys is secretly filming it and he gets hit with $125,000 fine and a 12-week suspension later reduced to eight,” he said.

“I thought that was harsh, but in the ladder of atrocities, I think [the Souths scandal] is worse.

“Mitchell Pearce was not naked, he had a right to believe he wasn’t being filmed. Certainly he acted silly, but he was just skylarking. That’s vastly different than being in a FaceTime phone call with a fan with a couple of your teammates there and dropping your trousers.”