Blues investigating as Thomas 'fails the stupidity test'
Carlton director Chris Judd has blasted veteran Dale Thomas for drinking at a charity function, two nights before their latest loss.
The Blues' integrity manager, Craig Millar, was investigating the incident involving Thomas at the Camp Quality dinner and was set to provide a briefing to the football department on Wednesday.
Carlton will wait for Millar to collate all of the facts and provide a briefing before deciding if they will take further action against Thomas for what they would view as a lack of professionalism.
It's understood Thomas admitted he had had a few drinks at the dinner but given that wait staff had topped up the glass during the night, could not be sure precisely how many drinks he had.
Thomas also had an altercation at the function with former player Robbie Warnock. The club spoke to Warnock on Tuesday and he played down the incident, saying there was not much in it an did not want to buy further into the issue.
Judd said he had no problems with a player having one or two drinks before a game, but acknowledged it was a bad look given Carlton's plight.
The Blues are two games clear at the bottom of the ladder and the pressure continues to grow on coach Brendon Bolton.
"I'm not one to 'infantise' players - if players have a single beer or a couple of wines over dinner, I don't have a huge problem," Judd told Channel Nine's Footy Classified.
"Needless to say, drinking, full-stop, in public, two days before a game when you're 1-9, fails the stupidity test, clearly.
"So we'll wait and see what the result of the investigations are - I actually don't have the detail, I'm not spinning that.
"Watch this space - the optics are poor."
Thomas has admitted he should not have been drinking, accepting Judd’s criticism that it was stupid and looked bad two days before a game when the side had barely won a match for the year.
Judd added Thomas' teammates, not the board, would decide if any action is necessary.
He also said a player having a quiet drink a couple of nights before playing was not in itself a problem.
"If someone's having a glass of wine over dinner, I don't think it's a heinous crime and I don't think there's any punishment for it," he said.
Michael Gleeson and AAP