Men behaving badly... but not really.

So the judge bought it.

Despite having previously been found guilty of recklessly wounding girlfriend Katie Milligan - and sentenced to a minimum of 8 months in jail - former NRL star Greg Bird has successfully convinced a judge that it was not he who was at fault, but his girlfriend.

His crazy, neurotic, drug-taking girlfriend - the one that suffered a fractured eye socket and cuts to her eye after being hit in the face with a glass.

She was irrational, you see. Drunk and high and furious after an earlier argument, she lunged at him with a glass, and somehow - he can't quite remember how - the glass smashed into her face.

This version of events comes more than a year after the incident took place. At the time, the pair blamed the glassing on Bird's then flat mate Brent Watson, who is yet to receive a public apology for the false accusation.

Still, the judge believed the latest version - or at least accepted it - and now Bird is on the hunt for a new NRL team. His conviction was quashed and Milligan was left to take the public image fallout (and appeared happy to do so).

Not that Bird was left high and dry after the initial charge - he's been captaining French side Catalans Dragons in the English Super League.

He's facing another assault charge after being accused of tipping a drink over a woman's head and punching her. But apparently he was just defending another woman.

Time will tell whether Bird's career will benefit as a result of the publicity and subsequent outcome of the trial.

It wouldn't be the first time.

Time after time, we hear of sportsmen behaving badly - often involving violence, sexual assault or drug and alcohol abuse. They might get suspended from a couple of games, some even get sacked from their team. But very rarely are their careers irreparably damaged. In fact, the opposite is usually true, with remaining teams often fighting over accused players.

When you think about the message this sends out, it's ironic that schools are now teaching boys that violence against women and sexual coercion is wrong.

A lesson that shouldn't need to be taught in 2009.