Former Essendon captain Tim Watson has urged players to think about implementing an on-field sledging code of conduct.

The call comes after an incident on Saturday afternoon that saw Carlton skipper Marc Murphy take offence to a comment from Saints players, before giving his own back to Jake Carlisle which sparked an all-in scuffle right before the three-quarter time siren.

โ€œIt is of a family nature. Itโ€™s a personal family thing that was pointed out on the weekend and that is why Murphy reacted in the way that he did,โ€ Watson said on SEN 1116 on Monday.

โ€œThis is a player issue, not an AFL issue.

โ€œLots of stuff gets said out there on the AFL field, But what do the players find acceptable? Whatโ€™s crossing the line? Whatโ€™s banter?

โ€œIf what Iโ€™ve been told is whatโ€™s been said to Murphy, I would find it extremely disappointing to think the modern AFL player thinks itโ€™s fair game.

โ€œWrite a code among yourselves boys and be mature ... the players (should) develop their own code of conduct as to what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.โ€

As well as asking the players to take it upon themselves to fix the issue, Watson has called for the AFL Players Association to intervene as well.

โ€œBy five oโ€™clock today, I would hope that we would hear from the Players Association in some meaningful way and say okay weโ€™re going to do something about this, this is not acceptable,โ€ Watson said.

โ€œWe would like to think that all our members of the Players Association show more respect for each other, than embarking on this type of behaviour.โ€

Former North Melbourne champion Wayne Carey weighed in on the matter as well, saying the nature of the Saints' sledges were very wrong.

โ€œIf it is personal, it is wrong. It is as simple as that,โ€ Carey said on Triple M.

โ€œIf Murph has taken it that way, then it is wrong. It is all about how someone takes something. If youโ€™re attacking someone, especially if it is a family member then that is really, really wrong.โ€