Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich has told the annual AFL Players’ Association Directors and Delegates conference that a player’s development off the field is just as important as on the field.
The AFLPA president spoke at the conference in Melbourne on Thursday, which discusses a range of issues affecting AFL players.
“The Directors and Delegates conference is a great opportunity for all the guys across the competition to get together and discuss issues that impact us as a group,” Pavlich said.
“When it’s such a collaborative nature, it’s great to hear the different insights from each club and hear the variety of different opinions about what we can do better in the game.
Pavlich elected AFLPA president
“I think there’s a lot of opportunities around wellbeing, mental health, off field development.
“It’s not necessarily about what can happen on the field, but from a players’ perspective you can grow as an individual and grow not only within the game and become a better player, but become a better person off the field with that off field development.”
Fremantle’s Matt de Boer and David Mundy also attended as delegates.
Among the topics discussed were the next collective bargaining agreement, female football, competitive balance, community and player development.
