MELBOURNE players Ricky Petterd and James Frawley have both been handed suspended $2500 fines for comments they made on Twitter on Tuesday night after teammate Jack Trengove was suspended for three matches by the AFL tribunal.
The club has also received a suspended $5000 fine, the AFL announced on Friday.
Petterd and Frawley were among a group of Demons who voiced their outrage at Trengove's suspension via the social networking service, but were the only ones deemed by the league to have breached guidelines governing tribunal criticism.
Frawley tweeted, "I thought my mate played for the Melbourne demons....Not the Melbourne vixens!!!"
Petterd was more direct, writing simply, "Bulls**t!!"
AFL football operations general manager Adrian Anderson said players need to be mindful that tweets or messages posted in other online forums are no different to views expressed through traditional media.
"The AFL tribunal members and Match Review Panel members are highly professional people who give their time and expertise to football and the Melbourne Football Club has acknowledged the comments were inappropriate," Anderson said.
"The club and the players have each had their sanctions suspended for a period of two years, but we would inform all players, coaches and officials across the competition that comments on social media sites are seen as the official views of the individuals involved, and that sanctions will be applied in the future."
The AFL wrote to the Demons on Wednesday asking for a 'please explain' under rules banning players from making 'any unfair, unreasonable or excessive public criticism' of a tribunal decision or tribunal member.
On Thursday night, Melbourne appealed Trengove's suspension, for a tackle on Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield that left the Crow concussed, but was once again unsuccessful.
The 19-year-old will now miss the Demons' clashes with North Melbourne, St Kilda and Carlton.