Carlton has followed through strongly on its promise to take further action against three players fined for bringing the club into disrepute for their alcohol-fuelled pre-Christmas escapades.
And club president Stephen Kernahan has revealed the trio - Andrew Walker, Eddie Betts and Ryan Houlihan - came within a whisker of being sacked.
Kernahan announced on Monday that all three players had been suspended from the club, effective immediately, for the next month.
They will train with Carlton's VFL affiliate the Northern Bullants over that period and will take no part in the Blues' NAB Cup campaign, which effectively rules them out of contention for selection for the early rounds of the new AFL season.
Walker and Houlihan were fined $5000 by the club before Christmas for getting involved in a scuffle with security staff at Crown Casino in the wake of the Blues' now infamous drunken boat trip on December 19.
Betts was fined the same amount after he was locked up by the Victoria Police for being drunk in a public place in the hours after the players' cruise.
Kernahan said the club's leadership group had been 'negligent' in allowing drinking during the cruise to get out of control, and club captain Chris Judd conceded the group had accepted full responsibility for what took place.
"We were entrusted by the club to ensure that appropriate levels of behaviour were maintained and we put our hands up today and say we fell seriously short of that," said Judd.
"We give our word that it won't happen again."
Judd said that, despite appearances, Carlton is not a 'heavy drinking' club.
"What we have is where players go for long periods of drinking no alcohol or next to no alcohol at all and then use alcohol as a reward system for the hard work or sacrifices they've made," he said.
"Using alcohol as a reward leads to binge drinking and binge drinking really has no place at this club."
Kernahan, who addressed the players on Monday morning, said the club was unlikely to ever again sanction an event like the 'booze cruise' even though it was organised by the players and not an official club function.
Asked whether Betts, Walker and Houlihan were close to being sacked, Kernahan replied: "They wouldn't have wanted to push us any further."
"I think this club made a really big stand with Brendan Fevola not so long ago and I spoke to the playing group this morning and I hope I left the boys in no uncertain terms about what's demanded."
"I spoke to the players about respect, humility, empathy for team-mates."
"This playing group, most of them don't actually have a drink, I can honestly say that and obviously it was a little naive and they went a bit harder than they should have on that day."
Kernahan said the club had bolstered its drug and alcohol education program as a direct result of the latest misadventures.