What on Earth was Todd Carney thinking?

The lewd picture has surfaced just one day after Carney starred in Cronulla's epic comeback against Brisbane on Friday night. Source: News Corp Australia

TODD Carney has been sacked after a shocking lewd picture of the NRL player went viral on social media overnight.

The image allegedly shows Carney in the toilets of Sutherland Shire nightclub Northies urinating into his own mouth, an act also known as 'bubbling'.

Cronulla Board members decided this afternoon to terminate his $650,000-a-year contract effective immediately, despite having three years remaining, according to the Daily Telegraph.

While Todd Carney is yet to officially comment on the photo, the subject got a fiery response on Sunday Triple M, with co-host and News Corp journalist Paul Kent blasting Carney as "a p***ed idiot at the trough acting like a goose."

When asked about the pictures, the NRL's Head of Football Todd Greenberg told Triple M:

"We're clearly not in the business to talk about negativity for rugby league, we want to talk about the positive things," he said.

"These things derail the conversation and that doesn't please us.

"Where we have to make tough decisions, we'll make them," he said.

Rugby league immortal Andrew Johns told Channel Nine's Sunday Footy Show this morning that Carney should not be sacked over the latest incident.

"Surely they couldn't sack him for that," Johns said. "It's silly ... it's stupid (but) he is only doing it to himself."

Todd Carney's teammates congratulating his try on Friday night. Source: News Corp Australia

Also known as 'gargoyling', bubbling is an internet craze that is particularly prevalent within the skating community.

One skater, Troy West, told Vice that it's part of an Aussie skater's everyday life, and was something that was even passed down to him from his father.

The craze is apparently starting to pick up in Europe too, with West claiming he was 'bubbling' in both Austria and Italy with other skaters while touring.

"Why?" you might ask.

"To provoke reactions from laymen," of course.

It wouldn't be the first time Todd Carney has landed in hot water for his off-field indiscretions.

In 2009 he was banned from playing in the NRL after repeated alcohol-related incidents while playing for Canberra.

He spent the season playing with the Atherton Roosters in the Cairns competition before joining the Roosters the following year.

After two seasons with the Tricolours, Carney was released from the final year of his contract after he broke a team-imposed alcohol ban.

That same year, Carney was caught up in another scandal after nude pictures of him were found of a second-hand phone in Canberra.

Louise Hallam was shocked after finding the pictures of the footballer stored on the phone.

Carney admitted he had used a device to take explicit pictures of himself in front of the bathroom mirror and had forwarded the photos to a girl he met on Facebook months after she exchanged a lewd photograph of herself.