Carlton's decision to drop three key players on disciplinary grounds ahead of the vital Adelaide game has shown the club won't tolerate any disruption to their finals campaign, coach Brett Ratten said.

Ratten said he would not accept any indiscretions on or off the field as the side prepares for its first finals series in eight years.

Forwards Cameron Cloke, Eddie Betts and Jeff Garlett, were dropped for Saturday's clash, despite its importance and the form of the trio.

A win against the Crows would give Carlton a home final while a loss could mean an away game in the first week of the finals.

But Ratten was adamant on Wednesday the club had acted properly and indicated its determination to fine tune every aspect of its September preparations.

"We made a real conscious effort, around that (round 13) Essendon game when we had that defeat, for a lot of things to get right in our preparation.

"With not much of the season left (we wanted to) make sure we get everything right - and they didn't," Ratten said.

"I know they were out late. I don't know exactly what time, but the thing was they turned up extremely late to recovery and if it wasn't for a phone call I'm not sure they would have turned up to recovery.

"They paid the full whack."

He said the decision was a match committee one and was unanimously backed by the leadership group.

"They thought our decision was a fair assessment of what had gone on."

Ratten said the decision would have been the same had captain Chris Judd or established stars Marc Murphy or Bryce Gibbs been involved.

"Yeah, it would have been but I suppose when you look at those three names they're probably the three most professional players at our football club.

"They would never put themselves in that situation and I think the lesson that's been learnt for the three players is you need to do everything right.

"The game is so hard itself - if you're one per cent off, you lose the game. And we spoke a lot about the one per centers going forward and this was one off-field that we need to get right and we just had that hiccup."

Ratten said the trio were remorseful.

"They understand with a week to go before finals and where our club sits and the opportunity that we have in front of us, they've let themselves down and their teammates," he said.

Ratten said Cloke would "bounce back" due to his versatility but all three might have a fight to regain their spots in the short term.

"Chris Yarran will come in. His form's been electric at VFL level, so he gets a chance to come in and maybe stay in," he said.

"(Shaun) Hampson will be pretty close to coming back this week as well so that might make it harder for Cameron.

"Yarran might make it harder for Garlett and Betts, so it will be interesting."

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