Late last year another Saint, Jason Gram, was sacked after police intervened in a personal relationship involving Gram. Coach Scott Watters said later: ''We tried very hard to work through the situation that Gram was involved in. But when it gets to the point when the Victoria Police were involved, there is a gravity to that sort of situation.''

The Saints have a history of dealing with scandals of a sexual nature but they appear to have not seen this one coming. The last time they had a player charged with rape - Andrew Lovett in 2010 - the player was sacked immediately and his career effectively finished. The AFL backed the Saints.

Club chief executive Michael Nettlefold, who was handling the situation from overseas with the AFL, his board and the players' union. He refused to comment.

The St Kilda board had scheduled an emergency meeting on Tuesday night and Milne was expected to attend a meeting at the club. The AFL refused to comment on Milne's future but had not ruled him out from playing.

Lovett had endured a short, unhappy time at the club and with Gram, too, there were mitigating factors. But Milne is a beloved Saint in his 13th season with the club with 268 games and 564 goals to his name. A social media comment on Lovett's Instagram stated: ''Wow! I wonder if Milney will get the arse like I did??? #sacked #unfair #innocentuntilprovenguilty…''

The dilemma facing the competition was not lost on anyone. The Milne investigation, which included his teammate Leigh Montagna, prompted the AFL to introduce changes to its code of conduct rules which included a clause allowing players to be stood down, suspended or sacked before being judged by a court of law.

Footballers are suspended for missing training, drinking too much or becoming involved in fights. The AFL pushed Carlton to suspend Brock McLean for an unsavoury tweet. This makes the prospect of a man charged with four counts of rape representing his football club a strange dilemma indeed. Should Milne be forced to wait until his committal that should see out this season which is expected to be his last.

Only last week Milne appeared to be taking cautious steps towards becoming an unlikely poster boy for villification as part of the competition's campaign against crowd abuse, something he puts up with on a regular basis.

He met the league's football boss Mark Evans to discuss his situation after admitting on Channel Nine: ''I cop a few words which aren't good for anyone. I've got a couple of kids and they go to the footy and my family and parents have to cop the abuse. So the sooner we can stamp it out the better.''