AFL Players' Association CEO Paul Marsh has given his take on a wide range of issues surrounding the AFL heading into Round 2 of the 2023 season.
Speaking on Breakfast with Harf, Marsh was asked his thoughts on the highly contentious bump debate, following a series of bad incidents across the weekend.
Buddy Franklin, Kysaiah Pickett and Shane McAdam were all handed suspensions after their hits in Round 1, with the latter contesting the AFL Tribunal's decision to hand down thre-game ban for his hit on Giant Jacob Wehr.
"I don't think there are players out there trying to do this deliberately," Marsh told RSN.
"I think bad decisions are made from time to time and that's what the Tribunal is there for. There's still a little bit of evolution to go around about how we deal with this."
"We don't see these incidents happen on a yearly basis, the conversations not taking place on a daily basis because we don't really need to."
Marsh also spoke on where things currently sit in regards to negotiating the next player payment deal with the AFL.
The deal aims to alleviate uncertainty, particularly for AFLW players, by bringing together the men's and women's CBAs.
"We've got a proposal sitting with the AFL," Marsh revealed.
"It'll get there once we reach agreement, there is patience required in the short term but we will lock into a medium to long-term deal, which will give the players, particularly the 'W players… some certainty for a multi-year basis.
"Should top players be paid more? Yes I think they should be, but we have a responsibility to the minimum contracted players."
Another issue which sparked debate in recent days was the MCG turf for the opening weekend of the season, with Geelong coach Chris Scott expressing some concern with the state of the ground after injuries to key players Tom Stewart and Sam De Koning.
"Where a ground comes up as getting to that unsuitable level is where we would typically get involved," Marsh said.
"There was a bit of conversation about it… the surfaces definitely plans to get better over the weekend based on the discussions we've had.
"In the case of the MCG, there was a foreseeable potential issue."
Round 2 kicks off on Thursday night with Carlton and Geelong at the MCG at 7:20pm (AEDT).
