ST KILDA'S senior players are "filthy" at the conduct of new teammate Jake Carlisle and he will be made to front the leadership group on his return to explain a controversial video that aired on Wednesday night.

Carlisle will return early from an overseas holiday after speaking with Saints coach Alan Richardson late on Wednesday night, with the former Essendon tall set to confront a frustrated and unhappy team.

The 24-year-old apologised in a statement for his "clearly inappropriate behaviour", which St Kilda CEO Matt Finnis said was a requirement of joining the club.

Finnis said the key position player still had a long road ahead to earn the trust of his new teammates.

"I don't know that there'd be anything more confronting than knowing he's got to front Nick Riewoldt and our leadership group, who have spoken about this," Finnis said on Thursday.

"They're absolutely filthy. They've done a lot of work to really be clear on what it is they want our club to stand for.

"Our players are very unhappy, they're very frustrated. Jake's got a lot of work to do – and I know he's very nervous about it – to confront those players as part of him winning their trust and confidence."

St Kilda wasn't aware of the Carlisle video until it aired on Channel Nine. 

Carlisle 'sorry' for video

The club will investigate who knew about the video ahead of Carlisle's trade, which was brokered by the player's manager Anthony McConville.

A Current Affair says it contacted McConvilleon Tuesday to make him aware of the video's content.

"We've spoken with Anthony McConville and there is still some uncertainly around who knew what and when," Finnis said.
 
"That's something that we've got a strong interest in getting to the bottom of over time.
 
"We believe it is very important to be open, transparent and honest in all of our dealings. We would hope that everyone we deal with takes the same view as us.
 
"There'll be further conversations in relation to that."
 
Finnis said he had spoken to Essendon and was "very comfortable" the Bombers had no information that would have "given them any cause for concern, either about this particular episode or any behaviour in the past".
 
Carlisle apologised for inappropriate behaviour on Thursday morning in a carefully worded statement.
 
Finnis would not comment on the specifics of Carlisle's behaviour, only saying it was "very clear that what Jake is putting his hand up for".
 
"Jake is not saying I've made a mistake because I've been caught [or] I've made a mistake because I've used social media," the CEO said.  
 
"Jake is putting his hand up in an unequivocal way and accepting responsibility for behaviour that we would say is inappropriate and unacceptable at our club."