Bulldogs teammates embroiled in AFL drink-driving controversy

The Western Bulldogs have been plunged into crisis, with at least two teammates implicated in vice-captain Lachie Hunter's alleged drink-driving incident that saw him charged with breaching COVID-19 restrictions.

Bailey Smith and Billy Gowers are reported to have become involved after Hunter allegedly crashed into four cars at Middle Park about 8.45pm on Thursday.

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Police were called following reports a Toyota SUV had crashed into the parked cars on Wright Street.

When officers arrived, the Toyota was found but the driver had left the scene.

Smith was understood to have driven Hunter to Gowers' South Yarra home.

Victoria Police on Friday said a Middle Park man was given a preliminary breath test and a subsequent evidentiary breath test, returning a reading of 0.123.

He will be charged on summons with drink driving and other traffic matters.

Police also found him in breach of the coronavirus restrictions and fined him $1652.

"We found out about the incident in the last couple of hours and we'll obviously take the time to investigate it," the AFL club's president Peter Gordon told SEN radio on Friday.

"Football is very prominent in people's lives ... but this isn't the message we want to send out there."

AFL integrity unit investigating alleged incident

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan confirmed the league's integrity unit was also investigating the incident.

"I'm not going to go into this specific case because I need to establish exactly what the facts are, but drink driving is completely unacceptable in any aspect of the community," McLachlan told 3AW.

"As is breaching lockdown laws ... these are things which are pretty cut and dried.

"I'm not going to go into discussions I've had but in the broader context people make mistakes and he's made, it seems at this stage, a significant mistake here but young men do that.

"He's vice-captain of the club, he's a leader, but he's clearly made a mistake here."

Gordon said Hunter "is a good young man" and suggested he was not "dealing at all appropriately with the pressure that a lot of people are under and the circumstances in which we live".

"But you can't use that as an excuse. This is behaviour we don't want to see and we'll get an explanation for it, get the circumstances, but the message we want send to people (is) during these difficult times is you need to put extra effort into sticking to the community effort," he said.