Fiery Carlton key position player Setanta O'hAilpin has been suspended indefinitely by the Blues for an extraordinary attack on teammate Cameron Cloke during an AFL intra-club match on Friday.

The Irishman punched and kicked Cloke in the third term of the match, prompting team leader Brendan Fevola to immediately order him from the ground.

The pair had been grappling in an off-the-ball tussle in the third term of the game at Princes Park when O'hAilpin swung a left hook, knocking Cloke to the ground.

As he lay motionless, O'hAilpin kicked him solidly before teammates descended on the pair and the match was halted for 15 minutes.

The incident, described by Carlton coach Brett Ratten as "a poor act", will now be the subject of an AFL investigation.

And O'hAilpin's career with the club is hanging by a thread.

Cloke walked shakily to the bench after being hit and was treated for a cut over his eye.

Blues chief executive Greg Swann moved swiftly to suspend O'hAilpin, saying the attack would not be tolerated.

"Setanta's actions were totally unacceptable, on or off the field and we are bitterly disappointed in the incident with Cameron Cloke," Swann said.

O'hAilpin, who will be ordered to undergo an anger management course, will train with the Blues' VFL affiliate the Northern Bullants while he is suspended.

Carlton said the former hurling star was remorseful and had apologised to Cloke.

His suspension had the full support of the Carlton leadership group.

Although he was not reported at the time, the umpires have lodged a notice of investigation which will bring the incident before the AFL match review panel on Monday.

O'hAilpin has a history of clashing with teammates - he traded blows with Cain Ackland during a club training session in 2007.

Ratten said his action went beyond the boundaries of intense practice matches and admitted it had left the 100 onlookers at the ground stunned.

"I think in practice matches, if you go through history, and training in general there's all the argy-bargy and the odd hit here and things like that - but that is not a part of our game," Ratten said.

"I could believe the push and shove - and I think players first up, there's a lot of anxiousness in trial games and things like that so blokes do overstep the mark a little bit.

"But that action of kicking is not on.

"You even felt in the game it was pretty hard and physical, and that came over the whole ground - you looked around and there were a lot of jaws open to say, `did that really happen?'"

Ratten praised Fevola, recently readmitted to the leadership group following a series of off-field indiscretions, for ordering O'hAilpin off.

"The leadership group sent him home straight away. It was their call - Brendan from the field and then Juddy (captain Chris Judd) said `go home and cool your heels and we'll talk this afternoon'."

O'hAilpin, 24, has played 46 games in four seasons for the Blues.

In further bad news for Carlton, tagger Andrew Carrazzo broke his arm during the match and will be sidelined for six weeks.

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