AT LEAST one AFL club recruiter has privately admitted to the league that he and his club would be unlikely to draft an indigenous player unless at least one parent were white.

Some clubs have also told the AFL they were now more reluctant than ever about recruiting Aboriginal players because they provided a difficult management issue. Other clubs, however, remain firmly committed to recruiting Aboriginal players.

Arrested last week ... Liam Jurrah. Credit:Getty Images

The AFL approached several recruiters recently to talk in general terms about rumours of unease at some clubs about recruiting indigenous players, and the drop in the number of indigenous players in the game this year. There are 80 indigenous Australians on AFL lists this year, down from 85 in each of the past two years.

The complexity of the varied cultural backgrounds that AFL players come from was brought into sharp focus by the arrest in Yuendumu of Melbourne player Liam Jurrah for an alleged assault with a machete last week.