THE NAB Cup had not even started when Setanta O'hAilpin's demons took over his fist and foot at Visy Park yesterday landing the punch and kick that reverberated around the football world and inadvertently launched the season.

Not only could the hot-headed Irishman's year have ended before it had begun, but so too could his AFL career.

O'hAilpin's rush of blood was apparently provoked by a Cameron Cloke elbow to the throat. But if punching teammates is rare, then kicking them when they are down, at least in the Australian code, is unheard of.

Coach Brett Ratten considered calling off the intra-club practice game shortly before three-quarter time, but in the end the scratch match was completed with O'hAilpin sent from the ground by teammate Brendan Fevola and ordered home by captain Chris Judd.

The Blues have suspended the 25-year-old indefinitely and he almost certainly will face the AFL tribunal on Monday night.

Carlton chief executive Greg Swann called AFL boss Andrew Demetriou late yesterday, but it remains unclear just how the game's bureaucracy will unfold when O'hAilpin is concerned.

But to the Blues he remains an unacceptable risk in the short term and potentially forever.

As for Cloke, he appeared publicly pragmatic and took a call from the Irishman yesterday afternoon.

When O'hAilpin apologised, unable to explain the extent of the personal issues that may have led to his attack, Cloke replied: "Stuff happens, mate."