THE phenomenon is known as the “Bubbler”.

It involves urinating on your own face, and has made the world question how crazy Australians are.

Yes, urinating into your own mouth is a thing and Australia invented it.

Bubbling has surged in popularity this year and is now infamous thanks to NRL star Todd Carney, who was sacked by his Cronulla club yesterday after a photo emerged of him Bubbling at a Cronulla nightclub.

The lewd act requires a male to urinate upwards into his own face so the stream hits his mouth as if he was drinking from a water fountain.

Carney is far from the first man to Bubble. It is an increasingly popular way to show off among young males. However, he is the first person to face any form of sanction for an act that only harms the fool dumb enough to taste his own urine.

An ex-alcoholic who once urinated on a team mate’s friend and ran away from an RBT van, Carney has done far worse than this. He has escaped punishment for acts that severely affected the lives of others.

There are NRL players who will star for their clubs this weekend who weren’t sacked despite repeated court appearances.

The NRL and Cronulla are right to punish Carney as the notoriety he gave the Bubbler will ensure more lewd photos are retweeted on Twitter.

Rap Sheet: Strife and times of sacked Cronulla Sharks star Todd Carney

However, sacking him is a price too high to pay. Yes, even for Carney.

When does the photographer suffer consequences for publishing offending material?

Your son’s friend or a mate’s younger brother has probably tried the Bubbler, which is typically performed in front of friends and elicits a cheer if the stream reaches the person’s lips. It has become the go-to party trick for football players, skaters and rockers.

The Bubbler first gained popularity after a Melbourne man was photographed performing the act in the mosh pit of a heavy metal concert this year. The photo went viral on the world’s most popular news forum, Reddit, with readers around the globe shocked by the Bubbler.

Just one week ago popular US online news site Vice, which specialises in revealing the world’s bizarre practices, wrote a piece on the Bubbler’s increasingly popularity in Australia.

“This is real. I have friends who have done this, mostly while drunk for a laugh. In Brisbane we call it ‘the human bubbler’,” commenter Kurt Castro wrote in response to the Vice article.

New York Mayor Michael Carter commented: “I had heard that there were some severe droughts in Australia, but apparently they were worse than I thought.”

The origins of the Bubbler are unknown but it has been a staple of footy tours for the past year.

Carney has now suffered the ultimate punishment but he will be signed by an NRL rival whose players will no doubt ask him to perform the Bubbler during their first night out.

Strangely, that’s just the way it is.