Carlton may decide to sack Ó hAilpín

AUSTRALIAN RULES:SETANTA Ó hAILPÍN has been suspended by his club, Carlton Blues, and ordered to undergo anger management therapy after punching and kicking a team-mate during a training match yesterday.

It could get even worse for the 25-year-old, as his coach, Brett Ratten, has not ruled out sacking him following the incident.

A video clearly shows Ó hAilpín grappling with Cameron Cloke on the ground not long after 11am Australian time, before standing up and laying him out with a left-hand punch. The former Cork All-Star hurler then kicks Cloke as he lay on the ground, which Ratten later described as “a poor act”.

The match was held up for 15 minutes as both players were taken from the field, with Cloke being examined by the club’s medical staff. Ó hAilpín was sent off the ground by club leader Brendan Fevola, and captain Chris Judd then advised him to return home to cool down.

Ó hAilpín is now subject to an AFL investigation and will train with the Blues’ junior outfit, the Northern Bullants, for the foreseeable future.

“Setanta’s actions were totally unacceptable, on or off the field, and we are bitterly disappointed in the incident with Cameron Cloke,” said Carlton chief executive Greg Swann in a statement.

“He is aware that such an incident is completely unacceptable and, in particular, is a poor example to junior footballers.”

The club described Ó hAilpín as “remorseful” and said he had apologised to Cloke, who was not seriously injured, though he was cut above his right eye. That has not stopped Ratten refusing to rule out the possibility of showing the ex-Na Piarsaigh star the door, only a few months after younger brother Aisake was released.

“We’ll have to sit down and talk about all the issues,” Ratten said.

The coach added that while players often scuffled between themselves in pre-season matches, kicking was unacceptable.

“Reflecting on what has happened, it’s not part of our game,” he declared. “We’ll sit down with Setanta and work through that. I think in practice matches – you go through history and training in general – there’s all the argy-bargy and . . . things like that. But that (kicking) is not part of our game.

“(Setanta) has gone home and we’ll give him time to cool off and have a think about his actions and we’ll take it up this afternoon.”

An AFL tribunal will look at the video of the incident on Monday morning and hear the evidence of the match officials before deciding whether to add their own suspension.

Cloke refused to comment,apart from saying he was fine and unwilling to discuss the issue.

Judd described what happened as “regrettable”, before adding: “Cameron is not seriously injured or holding any sort of grudge. Carlos (Ó hAilpín) regrets what happened.”