Carlton confirms Cowan and Hayward spent Sunday in hospital
Carlton says two of its AFL players spent time in hospital in Melbourne on Sunday and have since been discharged.
The club named Lachie Cowan and Will Hayward. It said the admissions happened under separate circumstances, according to ABC News.
Cowan received medical treatment in hospital and stayed for observation. He left a short time later.
That account came from Carlton. The club gave no further detail about the reason for his treatment.
Ambulance Victoria gave a separate account of an early-morning callout. It said advanced life-support paramedics, the highly trained crews sent to serious cases, responded to reports of an incident in South Yarra at about 5:15am on Sunday, according to ABC News.
Paramedics took a man in his 20s by road ambulance to The Alfred Hospital. He had upper body injuries and was in a stable condition, which means his vital signs were steady at the time.
Carlton has not said whether that callout involved either of its players. Its statement treated Cowan's and Hayward's hospital visits as unrelated to each other.
Hayward's case was described in more detail. Carlton said he suffered a minor cut to the head after a fall.
He took himself to hospital. Staff gave him stitches and he was discharged.
Cowan is a Tasmanian who arrived at Carlton in the 2022 draft, the league's annual intake of young talent. He has played 38 games for the club as a defender, the role focused on stopping opposition forwards and moving the ball out of trouble, according to ABC News.
For readers new to the game, Australian rules football is played with an oval ball on a large oval field. Carlton, known as the Blues, is one of 18 teams in the national men's competition.
The club said it has been in regular contact with both Cowan and Hayward. It said their wellbeing is the priority.
What makes this unusual is the overlap. Two players from the same club needed hospital care on the same day, for different reasons. Both were cleared to leave after treatment. That outcome will ease immediate concern, even as questions remain about how each incident happened.
Both players are now out of hospital. No further update on their health or availability has been released.
