In a revelation which has created significant friction between the Saints and the players union it has emerged that the AFLPA knew about the allegations against Carlisle in the hours that preceded his trade to St Kilda but said nothing and advised Anthony McConville to do the same. The players' union has since said it would not sanction McConville.

Carlisle and McConville fronted the AFL's integrity bosses on Thursday with the player having admitted he misled his manager when first contacted about the vision which was shown on A Current Affair last Wednesday, just hours after his multimillion-dollar agreement  with the Saints was ratified by the AFL.

Players boss Paul Marsh admitted to Fairfax Media that McConville sought the advice of the AFLPA. He said he backed the decision of the players' union to initially withhold  the information from St Kilda although he admitted the timing had been unfortunate. "Whilst the timing could not have been more unsatisfactory for the club as it turned out, the agent would have been breaching his obligations to the player if he was to act on the limited information he was aware of any earlier."

It is understood Carlisle came clean to McConville several hours after the trade had been ratified by the AFL, a trade which included the Saints giving up their first-round draft pick. Carlisle had allegedly not been aware of the intricacies of the social media "snapchat" and had not realised his illicit substance use could have been made public.

Fairfax Media now understands McConville contacted Ian Prendergast and the AFLPA legal boss Brett Murphy on the morning of Wednesday, October 21, some 24 hours after first being contacted by Channel Nine.

McConville had contacted Carlisle who denied he had an issue.

Prendergast and Murphy advised McConville to further investigate the allegations but not at that stage inform St Kilda.  Saints boss Matt Finnis had previously overseen the AFLPA and is understood to remain disappointed at being kept in the dark at such a crucial stage of the trade.

It has since emerged that St Kilda would not have recruited Carlisle had it known of his drug use. Further antagonism between the club and the AFLPA has emerged with the Saints now moving to not only strip Carlisle's marketing money but also various other components of the four-year deal estimated at about $2.4 million with an option for a fifth season.

While McConville fronted the AFL on Thursday he falls under the jurisdiction of the AFLPA.

Said Marsh: "We are comfortable with the actions of Jake's agent throughout the matter and the guidance provided by the AFLPA.

"In our view the club and the AFL were informed at the appropriate time based on the information that was available and the circumstances surrounding the allegation."

Carlisle also faces home-and-away games suspension from St Kilda and has unofficially agreed to voluntarily take a positive illicit drug strike.