Stephen Milne's playing days are finished STEPHEN Milne's AFL career may be at an end after St Kilda ordered him to take indefinite leave while he faces criminal charges arising from nine-year-old rape allegations. Milne is understood to be bitterly disappointed by the club's decision. At age 33, he is in the final year of his contract. It is unlikely the charges against him will be resolved before the end of this season. On Tuesday, Milne made it known to the Saints that he wanted to line up against Melbourne on Saturday at the MCG, but that request has been denied. The 2011-12 All-Australian player returned to his best with five goals against West Coast in his latest game last Sunday week. The Saints last night said Milne was expected to continue to train with teammates during his enforced leave of absence. St Kilda's decision, backed by the AFL, was announced after Victoria Police issued a public apology for its initial, "substandard" investigation into the 2004 allegations and resultant delay in charges being laid. The AFL Players Association last night said it was "deeply concerned" by St Kilda's action. "We understand the seriousness of the charges, and sensitivity to all parties concerned, but remind the industry and wider community that in our society all members have the right to the presumption of innocence, which is integral to our system of justice," chief executive Matt Finnis said. Although the investigation into Milne has been dogged by accusations of undue influence by police sympathetic to the footballer and his club, Assistant Commissioner Stephen Fontana said incompetence, rather than a conspiracy, was to blame for the badly handled case. "We have got no evidence to suggest there has been interference," Mr Fontana said. But we have got concerns about the standard and the way the investigation was conducted. We are sorry about this. The allegations against Milne arose after he and a teammate, Leigh Montagna, took two young women home from a club function on March 14, 2004. The case hinges on what happened after the teammates decided to swap partners. A woman aged 19 at the time has accused Milne of having sex with her without her consent. Milne denies the allegation. The investigation was led by detectives Scott Gladman and Mike Smith, who were stationed across the road from a suburban pub where St Kilda footballers and officials regularly drank. Mr Fontana said neither had been trained as a specialist sex offence investigator. In May 2004, then Director of Public Prosecutions Paul Coghlan QC assessed the brief of evidence prepared against Milne as too weak to support a conviction and the case was abandoned. When Mr Gladman retired from the force in 2010, he accused other police of undermining the case by leaking evidence to the football club and pressuring him to back off the investigation. Mr Smith, who has also left the force, supported the accusations. An OPI investigation found no evidence the case had been "deliberately hampered or inappropriately influenced," but recommended the evidence be reviewed. When detectives from the Sexual Crimes squad re-examined the brief, they found some witnesses had not been spoken to and basic inquiries had not been made. Mr Fontana, an experienced investigator of sex crimes, described the original investigation as inadequate, disappointing and disheartening. The Sexual Crimes squad has been re-investigating the allegations against Milne since May last year, when the OPI published its report. Milne was this week charged with four counts of rape. Milne is one of the most gifted small forwards to have played the game at the elite level, kicking 564 goals from 268 games. Only five players - Robert Harvey, Nathan Burke, Stewart Loewe, Barry Breen and Lenny Hayes - have played more games in the club's history. And only three others have kicked more goals - Tony Lockett, Bill Mohr and Loewe. Milne attended training at the club's Seaford headquarters yesterday. The club's tough stance was made despite long-serving captain Nick Riewoldt and senior player Nick Dal Santo earlier expressing their support for Milne. The pair will reach their 250-game milestones against the Demons this weekend and both said they had wanted Milne to play with them.