THE AFL has condemned the comments directed towards Carlton skipper Marc Murphy on Saturday, saying they "have absolutely no place in our game."

AFL Football Operations Manager Simon Lethlean said the AFL had spoken to Carlton and St Kilda on both Monday and Tuesday and respected the desire of both parties to move on from the incident.

However, he said the AFL's view was that any derogatory and offensive language about women was unacceptable regardless of the circumstances.

"They are extremely hurtful to both the player himself and his family," Lethlean said.

"There is a line, and that line is crossed when offensive and derogatory language is used about women."

St Kilda apologised to Murphy publicly and the skipper fronted the media briefly on Tuesday to make it clear he wanted to move on from the weekend's events.

Lethlean said the AFL respected the clubs' position but it was important the AFL made their position on the matter clear.

"Their decision was that they did not wish for further public discussion around the comments, as that only exacerbated the hurt, but our position is clear - that players need to understand that such comments are totally unacceptable," Lethlean said.

Meanwhile AFL CEO Gill McLachlan said AFL rules on sledging are sufficient.

He rejected calls for a code of conduct to be introduced in the wake of the sledging St Kilda players directed at Carlton skipper Marc Murphy during Saturday's game at Etihad Stadium.

The comments caused Murphy to verbally abuse St Kilda's Jake Carlisle while the defender lay on the ground injured, and the Saints admitted on Monday they had overstepped the mark at times.

"My view is that we have plenty of rules," McLachlan said.

"There is a line out there and I think generally it's not breached."

Murphy said on social media the furore had caused distress to his family, but McLachlan's comments were only directed at St Kilda's response.

"I think when you have the leadership of the St Kilda Football Club, with the coach and the captain saying 'we got it wrong', that is what we need," McLachlan said.

"In the end, it's about people owning their behaviours and being accountable to it, and occasionally our players get it wrong."

St Kilda captain Jarryn Geary said on Monday he had tried to contact Murphy, and admitted what was said was unacceptable, while Saints coach Alan Richardson told Fox Footy he had spoken to Murphy.

McLachlan, who has just returned from the historic first AFL clash in China, said on the information he had the Saints had responded appropriately.

"Leadership is putting your hand up and saying you got it wrong, and that is what they did," McLachlan said.

"We have plenty of rules, but sometimes people make mistakes and we have got to own them, and that is what happened."