Carlton has been plunged into an off-season crisis after two players were reportedly taken to hospital following an alleged recreational drug incident at a home on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
The club confirmed Lachie Cowan and Will Hayward were admitted to hospital on Sunday morning under separate circumstances.<\/p>\n
An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said paramedics responded to an incident in South Yarra about 5.15am, before a man in his 20s was taken to The Alfred Hospital in a stable condition.<\/p>\n
9News reported the man is believed to have suffered medical complications after allegedly taking recreational drugs.<\/p>\n
The Herald Sun reported another Carlton player attended hospital that same night, unrelated to his teammate\u2019s health issue, after hitting his head in the shower.<\/p>\n
In a statement to the Herald Sun, Carlton said Cowan and Hayward were admitted to hospital under \u201cseparate circumstances\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Carlton Football Club can confirm that Lachie Cowan and Will Hayward were admitted to hospital under separate circumstances on Sunday morning,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n
\u201cCowan received medical treatment and underwent observation, before being discharged a short time later.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill Hayward experienced a minor cut to the head after a fall, and admitted himself to hospital where he received stitches before being discharged.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Club has been in regular contact with both players, with priority for their wellbeing and both players have now received the necessary care relating to their separate circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
The AFL and Victoria Police have all been contacted for further comment.<\/p>\n
With Carlton\u2019s players on their post-season break, the AFL\u2019s updated illicit drugs policy is again in focus ahead of changes from the 2026\u201327 off-season. <\/p>\n
The new model puts health support first, replacing the strike system with hair testing twice a season and treatment for players who return a positive result. <\/p>\n
Repeated positives can lead to stronger intervention, including a ruling that a player is unfit to play, while separate rules for public incidents and anti-doping remain in place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carlton has been plunged into an off-season crisis after two players were reportedly taken to hospital following an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":924118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[467623,491898,491891,491894,491913,403118,377657,377579,491905,379284,491904,481506,385144,491908,376769,638,100611,491895,377711,491890,491892,92149,64,63,55,639,456606,6856,491896,491888,51536,491906,90094,491915,11625,491900,377723,382519,459242,4082,491901,491885,48713,13053,43961,35062,111386,26727,9497,5948,7820,65937,491887,30922,491909,436101,491910,491889,46907,491912,491911,491899,428193,340719,85,299488,491884,8825,443123,379302,491893,42586,465462,382205,167550,386615,378658,491902,491897,491886,378870,407612,491907,491903,439854,2284,491914,395555,112087],"class_list":["post-924117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-s-health-issue","tag-s-players","tag-s-updated-illicit-drugs-policy","tag-separate-circumstances","tag-5-15am","tag-a-fall","tag-a-home","tag-a-man","tag-a-minor-cut","tag-a-player","tag-a-positive-result","tag-a-ruling","tag-a-short-time","tag-a-stable-condition-9news","tag-a-statement","tag-afl","tag-alleged-drug-incident","tag-an-alleged-recreational-drug-incident","tag-an-incident","tag-an-off-season-crisis","tag-another-carlton-player","tag-anti-doping","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-both-players","tag-carlton","tag-cowan","tag-cowan-and-hayward","tag-crisis","tag-drug-drama","tag-focus","tag-further-comment-with","tag-hair","tag-health-support","tag-his-20s","tag-his-head","tag-his-teammate","tag-hospital","tag-lachie-cowan-and-will-hayward","tag-medical-complications","tag-medical-treatment","tag-morning","tag-newswire-sport","tag-night","tag-observation","tag-off-season","tag-paramedics","tag-place","tag-players","tag-priority","tag-public-incidents","tag-recreational-drugs","tag-recreational-drugs-the-herald-sun","tag-regular-contact","tag-repeated-positives","tag-same-night","tag-saturday","tag-separate-circumstances-an-ambulance-victoria-spokesperson","tag-separate-rules","tag-several-carlton-players","tag-several-players","tag-south-yarra","tag-sports","tag-stitches","tag-stronger-intervention","tag-sunday","tag-the-2026-27","tag-the-afl","tag-the-afl-and-victoria-police","tag-the-alfred-hospital","tag-the-carlton-football-club","tag-the-club","tag-the-head","tag-the-herald-sun","tag-the-man","tag-the-necessary-care","tag-the-new-model","tag-the-shower-in","tag-the-statement","tag-the-strike-system","tag-their-post-season-break","tag-their-separate-circumstances","tag-their-wellbeing","tag-treatment","tag-twice-a-season-and","tag-two-players","tag-will-hayward"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=924117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/924118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=924117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=924117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=924117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}