WHAT is the biggest issue in the game?

It was a simple question we posed to big names across the competition in the lead up to season 2026 – from star players to captains, young coaches to experienced ones and administrators in different positions – and the answers were wide and varied.

They took it wherever they liked. From broadcasting to concussion, social media to mental health, player movement to the war for talent, everyone came armed with different responses on what is the major issue right now.

Additional reporting from AFL.com.au's team, including Sarah Black, Joel Peterson, Nathan Schmook and Riley Beveridge, saw a broad group of 15 figures in the game give their views, with edited answers below.

DARCY MOORE

Collingwood captain, AFL Players Association president

"The generational change that's happening with the way people interact with and consume the game. It's a bit more of a big picture one, but younger fans engage with the game in a different way to the older demographics, so for the game, we have to continue to appeal to both audiences. The way we do that is going to be a challenge for the game now and in the future. I think the forms of the media and consumption behaviours of younger fans are different. The things they're interested in and what draws them to the game is different to older fans."

BRENDON GALE

Tasmania CEO

"Health and welfare is our most significant responsibility. Our paramount responsibility as sporting administrators is to keep our people safe. In that context, I think long and hard about head trauma – how we're managing looking back, how we're managing going forward, to keep our game safe. That's what I tend to think about. If we can't keep our athletes safe, we don't have a game. I think the AFL have been ahead of the game in rules and regulations."

JAMES GALLAGHER

AFL Players Association CEO

"For some time for players it's been mental health and that continues. The scrutiny and pressure that comes with being an AFL footballer and everyone acknowledges that and signs up for it. But I think from a game perspective that matters because we want our best people to stay in the game. We don't want to be losing people because of the downward pressure that comes on them for being a participant in the game. We want our best players to keep playing for as long as they possibly can and clearly we want to look after our people. It's something we can't ever think we've solved."

DEAN COX

Sydney coach

"Concussion for me is the medical one. Times have dramatically changed which is great. As soon as a doctor comes to me on that it's like, 'OK, no problem, what do we do next?' The player movement and contractual part for me is the [other] biggest one. It's really interesting because to retain your talent, if we don't offer players long-term deals, they'll move and get it somewhere else. So you have to. I would open that up. My take would be if you're a player you can sign any length deal you want, but you lose your rights over priority the club gets over a certain time, like four years. If you sign a four-year deal, you're fine and you own those rights. If you go five or further, then the club have them and they can use them at any time – even if you're two years in. I think there needs to be a correction in that sense."

ALEX PEARCE

Fremantle captain

"Personally, player wellbeing and including transition for past players. I think the game is getting more heavily scrutinised, there's more pressure and expectation than ever, and I think we need to do a good job of looking after our players and that transition into the real world. We live this life which has unrealistic expectations put on us. I feel like that's something we need to keep focusing on. I'm very conscious of creating balance in my life and making sure I have interests outside of footy, that I have career options and all those sorts of things, making sure my relationship to the game is healthy as well. Taking feedback and not getting too seduced or trapped by the bubble, it's something I'm very conscious of as well."

JORDAN DAWSON

Adelaide captain

"I think the AFL trade stuff – it's not an issue, but compared to other sports, especially American sports, we're a bit behind in that stage of the game. Maybe the mid-season trade period is the next port of call, how we can better trade and maybe have that option for players and clubs to do the mid-season trade. Being a bit more transparent with it – it's a transaction."

ERROL GULDEN

Sydney star

"I think sometimes with a few of the decisions that are made specifically about the game like rule changes and things like fines, fixturing, and stuff like that, I think there's not enough questions being asked to players. I don't think players have enough input. I think it can be frustrating sometimes as a player when the League makes calls and it's hard calls and as a player you're like, 'I just don't think that makes a lot of sense'. If our input was at least considered and we had representatives to give an input into rules."

ANDREW McQUALTER

West Coast coach

"I think for me in our current position, I don't think it's a huge issue in the game per se, but I've got the youngest squad in the competition, and just the amount of time we get to train and educate them. It's a big challenge at the moment. I think the break they have in the off-season and Christmas is longer than it's ever been. So just the amount of training and education we can actually squeeze into our players is a bit of a challenge these days, particularly with a young squad. I'm not really sure of the answer, because the season's getting longer as well, so it's harder, but maybe just a little bit more time when we've got a young squad would be really beneficial for us."

PATRICK CRIPPS

Carlton captain

"Younger players coming into the game with the amount of media around, and not just general media but social media, learning to deal with that and still performing at a high level. I think that's going to be the biggest issue going forward. We'll get better at it as the game evolves. But from when I first started 12 years ago to now, media has gone through the roof and social media has a lot of opinions. How players can build that resilience and stay focused on what they can control or if they get distracted [is the challenge]."

BRAD SCOTT

Essendon coach

"The three that stand out for me are concussion and the unknown there in the way that's going to look. Then there's broader equalisation and how do you achieve equalisation, which is a stated objective of the AFL, but do it somewhat equitably and fairly? And then one issue for our game that seems to have fallen off the radar, it got probably hijacked by COVID and different issues, is the war for elite talent. Our code has to be very conscious that we want to attract the first-choice athletes. There are multiple examples now where the best AFL young talents are usually good at more than one sport."

TOBY NANKERVIS

Richmond captain

"Probably life after footy, and that transition to outside the game. The AFL does a great job of giving us time off to do things off the field, but it is such a big transition [to] a large chunk of your life. I'm 32 now, I've got a long time left to work, so trying to work out that transition and utilising the skills I've learnt over the time to do something else. I've done my carpentry course and a few other things here and there, but trying to find a job as fulfilling as footy has been for me, and being part of a team, that's definitely something I think about a lot."

TIM SILVERS

Adelaide CEO

"It's the second year into the broadcast deal and this is a long-term challenge. The game continues to grow and expenses are getting higher and our players are expecting a certain amount of salary and they deserve it. But the space in the media is continually changing and how we structure that next broadcast deal – how we get competitive tension, how we get continued growth and uplift in a different market - will be something we will all have to lean in and support. Wildcard and State of Origin and these innovative things are something we need to get our head around to ensure the continued growth of this game through broadcast rights. Because if we just continue to roll out what we've done in the past – the rusted on fans love what we do – but we have to continue to find new fans and new markets to ensure we're the No.1 sport in the land."

NOAH ANDERSON

Gold Coast captain

"For us, it's continuing to look at the competitive balance across the competition and how we can give ourselves the best shot of continuing to compete with these bigger Victorian clubs. The AFL does a pretty good job of understanding that and continuing to get the game at a good stage where everyone is competing."

JOSH CARR

Port Adelaide coach

"One of the bigger challenges is around players' commitment to your football club with the bigger contracts that are taking place and players maybe understanding that when you make that commitment, you've got to allow for good years but you've also got to allow for bad years at the same time. I feel sometimes as soon as things look like they're going pear-shaped, a player wants to get out of there and leave when they've committed to a football club. We understand it's a two-way street and there's clubs sometimes who go the other way and push a player out the door, but you feel like the weight is too heavy towards the player. The market suggests that if you want to keep a player, you have to offer the long-term deals, so it's a real challenge for footy clubs. It's more for the AFL to make that call [on whether contract length should be capped]."

ALASTAIR CLARKSON

North Melbourne coach

"Who could possibly have thought five years ago, when the northern academies were granted these opportunities to really develop their academies, that you'd have one particular season where one club in Gold Coast [and Brisbane] were able to take five players that are rated in the top 20 in the country? Every club had them rated that way. No one could forecast that when the rules were set in stone. There are 17 other clubs in the competition and perhaps the northern academies are a little bit more warm to it than the other clubs. But there's 17 other clubs sitting there going, 'Gee we would love to get access to some of that talent'. That's why St Kilda has been vocal, but also has been so radical in what they've done. At the minute, I'm feeling like it's a stacked deck. It's more difficult than ever to be in those sides that are trying to bridge that significant gap. I'm up for the challenge, I'm not sitting here and saying we're never going to be able to do it. If you're never going to be able to do it, then bow out and give someone else a go and allow them to beat their head up against the wall trying to do it. I think it can be done. It's just really, really hard."