Carlton brothers Jack and Ben Silvagni have been disciplined by the AFL team’s leadership group for drinking while recovering from injuries.
The pair were sent to the Blues’ VFL team, where they had to help out the coaches in training sessions, for breaches of team rules on alcohol for drinking at a music concert on the weekend of November 23-24, according to a report in the The Age.
Jack Silvagni, the 21-year-old elder brother, had to attend four sessions at the Northern Blues, while Ben, a first-year player last season, had to attend only two.
The leadership group, headed by Patrick Cripps and Sam Docherty, took the view that Jack would have a heavier penalty because he had been drinking while injured once before and this was Ben’s first offence.
It is standard practice for clubs to discipline players for drinking while in recovery from injury, on the grounds that it can compromise recovery.
Sources said that Jack Silvagni, whose significant progress in his fourth season saw him rewarded with a two-year contract extension, had consumed alcohol while out with his partner – about three drinks – but was home by about 9pm.
The leadership group – Cripps, Docherty, Marc Murphy, Ed Curnow and Kade Simpson – spoke directly to both of the brothers, who have been in full training since they were disciplined.
The penalty was entirely in the hands of the leadership group.