An off-season night out for Carlton Football Club teammates concluded with two players admitted to hospital on Sunday morning in what the club insists were "separate circumstances" - a phrase that is doing an awful lot of heavy lifting in this particular statement.

Carlton confirmed that Lachie Cowan, 21, and Will Hayward, 27, were both treated and discharged, following reports across several media outlets about the aftermath of the evening. Guardian Australia understands both players were part of a larger group socialising on Saturday night, which is the standard opening line of roughly every off-season cautionary tale.

The club said Cowan "received medical treatment and underwent observation, before being discharged a short time later," offering no further detail on the circumstances - a level of vagueness that invites the imagination to fill in some very specific blanks.

Hayward was admitted to hospital later on Sunday morning after returning home. "Will Hayward experienced a minor cut to the head after a fall, and admitted himself to hospital where he received stitches before being discharged," the club said. A fall. At home. Sure.

Neither player is understood to be seriously unwell or hurt, which is the genuinely good news buried beneath the club's carefully worded statement.

"The club has been in regular contact with both players, with priority for their wellbeing and both players have now received the necessary care relating to their separate circumstances," Carlton said, once again deploying the word "separate" as if repetition will make it stick.

Ambulance Victoria said paramedics responded to an incident at inner-suburban South Yarra at about 5.15am on Sunday. A man in his 20s was taken by ambulance to the Alfred hospital in stable condition. Nothing says "relaxing off-season" quite like a 5:15am ambulance call in South Yarra.

Players across the league remain on leave as the trade period rolls on until Wednesday night - meaning there is still ample time for more clubs to issue statements about "separate circumstances."