National Rugby League chief executive David Gallop says everyone involved in rugby league must accept the need to change attitudes towards women or "get out of the game".
Gallop addressed the media today after ABC's Four Corners programme screened a report on several rugby league sex scandals on last night.
He admitted much of what was aired was "fundamentally indefensible".
Gallop apologised to the women who appeared in the program, which included a New Zealand woman who said her life was destroyed by a group sex incident in 2002 involving several Cronulla footballers in Christchurch.
One player involved was now television personality Matthew Johns.
"I again offer my apologies on behalf of the game for the pain those women experienced," Gallop said.
"Violence against women is abhorrent and sexual assault and the degradation of women is just that.
"So much of what we saw last night was fundamentally indefensible.
"If anyone in the game today is ignoring the importance of that message, then frankly they will need to find another career.
"This is not a time for clubs and players to complain about the media or the fact that victims have spoken out.
"It's a time to accept the changes we are putting in place or get out of rugby league.
"That must happen not just for the sake of the game but for the sake of the vast majority of our players who do not deserve to be associated with such headlines and whose work in inspiring people in the community is so often unheralded.
"Rugby league means an important and enormous amount to millions of people and in many ways the football we see today and the strength of the competition is better than it's ever been.
"But no amount of on field success can take away from the need to face up to these issues." The unnamed New Zealand woman said the 2002 incident had ruined her life and she hated the players for what had happened.
"If I had a gun I'd shoot them right now. I hate them, they're disgusting. I want them dead, I hate them so much," she told the programme.
Aged 19 at the time, she had originally gone to a room with Johns and another player but the situation quickly escalated.
"Every time I looked up there would be more and more people in the room, lots and lots of guys in the room watching, maybe two or three on the bed that were doing stuff to me." The programme said a psychiatrist paid for by ACC diagnosed her as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, she had cut her wrists and had purchased a length of rope.
She said she felt "worthless", that the incident had mentally scarred her and she became a recluse in the next "four to five years".
"I was drinking a lot, crying a lot and losing a lot of friends. Doing quite destructive things to myself and to other people.
"I tried to (study) but I couldn't. I just thought I was a useless person. I didn't care about anything, didn't really care what was happening. " She complained to Christchurch police five days later, but after they crossed the Tasman to interview all 30 players and 12 officials who made the trip, no charges were laid.
Johns admitted involvement in the incident last week, but said she gave her consent.
