CARLTON midfielder Andrew Carrazzo says the latest installment in Brendan Fevola's off-field saga "doesn't send a great message" to the club's stock of young players.
As a member of the Blues' leadership group, Carrazzo said it was disappointing to see Fevola again slip off the rails away from the football field.
The Blues full-forward was filmed on CCTV urinating on a bar window in a Melbourne nightspot in the early hours of Saturday morning.
"As adults, we've got to take responsibility for our own actions and the club expects that all of us take on that responsibility," Carrazzo said on Tuesday morning, before heading to the club to meet the leadership group to discuss how to handle the wayward forward.
"It's unfortunate that it's happened, but we've got to deal with it; that's the reality of the situation."
Carrazzo, 24, could have been forgiven for feeling annoyed when his press conference scheduled for Tuesday morning turned into a grilling over how the club will punish the 2006 Coleman medallist on the eve of the season.
But Carrazzo said it was all a part of being a leader, which is something he's enjoying immensely since being named in the six-man leadership group this year.
"It's good. It's an interesting responsibility and it's the reality of being a leader at a club," he said.
"I think you're going to come across situations like this; hopefully you don't have to but the reality is, you probably do sometimes."
Carrazzo said the players remained focused on Friday night despite two weeks of off-field distractions including last year's tanking talk and Fevola's late night mishap.
"The tanking is a bit of a media issue but it doesn't affect the players too much," he said.
"We're just really concentrating on Thursday night and trying to get the win against Richmond."
The 2007 best and fairest winner said such times could sometimes "galvanise" sides, and hoped the players would draw from the two incidents and present a strong front to Richmond on Thursday night.
"It's funny how that sort of stuff can happen sometimes," he said.
"I think the other clubs have shown when their backs are against the wall they can rally together and I hope that happens.
"We're a strong and resilient group so hopefully we can galvanise together. I can't wait for Thursday night; sometimes the pre-season games drag on a bit.
"When the real stuff comes around, you've got to be up and going, so I'm looking forward to Thursday night."
Carrazzo was in Carlton on Tuesday morning to continue the Blues' annual tradition of raising the club's flag in the heart of Lygon St before the first official game.
As the reigning best and fairest, this year's duties fell to the young leader, who said his Italian heritage made visiting the heart of Carlton even more special.
"It's great. I love coming down to Lygon Street," he said, after the flag was raised on the corner of Lygon and Faraday Streets.
"I've got family that came and lived here 50 or 60 years ago so I almost feel like I'm home sometimes.
"It's a great part of town; the best part of Melbourne, I think."