ST KILDA'S players have acknowledged their highly personal sledging of Marc Murphy crossed the line on Saturday, with Jarryn Geary attempting to contact the Carlton captain in the fallout from an ugly clash at Etihad Stadium.  

Meanwhile, Murphy responded to the social media commentary on Monday night, saying comments were hurtful to his wife and showed a lack of respect to women.

It comes as St Kilda coach Alan Richardson revealed he had a phone conversation with Murphy earlier in the day.

"It's a private conversation, it's between 'Murph' and I," Richardson told Fox Footy on Monday night. 

"I think he was appreciative. What you do have to remember (is) that Murph and I have got a bit of history; I worked with Murph for a couple of years."

The Saints on Monday met to discuss what the club described as "two to three back-and-forth incidents" that were thrust into the spotlight by Murphy's furious response to stricken defender Jake Carlisle in the third quarter.

The player-led meeting did not involve the coaching staff and it is understood CEO Matt Finnis was comfortable to close the issue internally on Monday afternoon.

Barrett: Personal sledging must stop and the AFL should act

Richardson acknowledged his players overstepped the mark in their on-field sledging of Murphy when asked about the incident.

"There was a couple of things that was said … but we don't hide from the fact that we didn't quite get that right and we need to be better," Richardson said.

"We want our footy to do our talking."

Bizarrely, however, Carlisle 'liked' a tweet on Monday night that referred to Murphy as "a little whinger". The tweet has since been 'unliked' again.

Carlton and St Kilda officials have spoken following the ugly incident, which saw an incensed Murphy lash out at Carlisle as he lay injured on the ground just before three-quarter time.  

That sparked a large melee instigated by Geary, who left a message with Murphy on Monday. 

Both clubs have told the AFL they don't want the matter taken any further.

AFL Players Association chief Paul Marsh released a statement on Monday afternoon, saying the AFLPA had spoken to players at both clubs and there was no need for further action to be taken.

"It's our view that on-field incidents are isolated and generally, players show great respect for each other," Marsh said.

"With respect to a potential players' code, we can see both the opportunity and challenges in how it might work and we will discuss its merits with our board and players during mid-season club visits before finalising any position."

Marsh was responding to comments by Essendon great Tim Watson, who said the players should develop a code of conduct for on-field sledging.

"Write a code among yourselves, boys, and be mature," Watson said on SEN on Monday morning.

"The players should develop their own code of conduct as to what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.

"By five o'clock today, I would hope that we would hear from the Players Association in some meaningful way and say 'OK, we're going to do something about this, this is not acceptable'."