THE MAJORITY of coaches say players should not be able to veto trades if they don’t want to go to a specific club.

Ten of the 17 coaches who took part in an annual survey did not agree that players ought to have the power to stop a trade, with six indicating they supported the players’ right to veto.

Six coaches said the balance of power in the free agency system was "too far in favour of the players", while 10 suggested the balance was "about right".

Coaches call for bounce to be scrapped

More than 70 per cent of coaches (12 of 17) said they supported long-term contracts for players (of five or more years), although they were not so sure what value contracts in the game had.

A combined 30 per cent of the men in charge said contracts were (necessary/essential/crucial/important), while others offered responses including "not binding", "different for different people", "not worth much" and "not worth the paper they are written on if a player wants to leave".

Ten coaches said they would support increased media access to players, while about half of those who responded agreed that the mental health of players had become a bigger issue at club level in the past 12 months.

Giants still the team to beat

The views were part of a survey of coaches for AFL.com.au and the AFL Record conducted in July.

The survey, facilitated by the AFL Coaches’ Association, asked coaches to provide their insights anonymously into all aspects of the game, including the game's stars, leading clubs and rules. Seventeen of the 18 coaches took part in the questionnaire.

The AFL Media annual coaches' survey, facilitated by the AFL Coaches’ Association, was conducted in July. Seventeen of the 18 senior coaches took part in the anonymous online survey. Read the full survey results in the round 20 edition of the AFL Record, available at all venues.