- Educational workshops are part of the lives of AFL stars
- Designed to help eradicate antisocial behavior
AFL Players’ Association boss Paul Marsh says players are “starting to fall asleep” during meetings and need more than mandatory educational workshops to learn how to behave appropriately.
Marsh said players were sitting through too much content to absorb and the league had to do more to “get this message across” following sanctions issued to GWS players for their offensive acts at an end-of-season party. last month.
The players’ association chief executive has reiterated his call for the AFL to agree to a set of MRO-style guidelines that would determine the size of penalties for abusive or off-field behaviour.
Marsh said the process which led to the suspension of six GWS players and the imposition of fines on seven other leaders was “not acceptable” due to its murky nature.
“We’re obviously frustrated by this particular issue, and we’re trying to work our way to a point that we don’t think is that challenging,” he told SEN on Wednesday.
‘There is a way to do this, and we have proposed to the AFL a solution on how we can establish a disciplinary framework.
“I think it’s really difficult at the moment where we think the AFL has left this very open for a long time, so we have this ‘conduct unbecoming’ allegation where the AFL almost puts its finger up and sees which direction.” the wind blows and then determines what the duration of the penalty is.
‘It is not acceptable from where we are. “We need to get to a point where there is some certainty about it and it is possible.”
AFL stars are falling asleep at educational meetings designed to prevent a repeat of the GWS Giants ‘Wacky Wednesday’ scandal (pictured, Giants players after a game this year)
AFL Players’ Association boss Paul Marsh (pictured) revealed the development while criticizing the league for its murky stance on sanctions for shocking off-field behaviour.
Marsh pointed to the framework agreed by the AFLPA and AFL during Covid seasons to sanction players for breaches of strict quarantine guidelines as an example of where a consistent process could be applied.
When questioned about his complaint about the “spiral of sanctions” for repeat offenses, given that players receive extensive education on respectful and inclusive behavior, Marsh said the league’s induction processes were still failing players.
“The AFL investigates a matter like this – they are judge, jury and executioner, they give the penalty and there is no framework, so what could have been four weeks at most on this issue could be 10 next year,” he said. .
‘We are putting young men and women into a system straight out of school, with no life experience for most of them.
“What happens in our industry is that players see a lot of content, whether it’s from the coaches, from the public address system, from the club, from whoever they bring in, and sometimes it’s not so easy to understand.
“People are starting to fall asleep in these sessions and we need to do more to get this message across.”