The AFL Players’ Association has put a handbrake on the league’s ambitions to expand to a 24-game home-and-away season.

AFL boss Andrew Dillon floated the possibility on the weekend of adding another match to the schedule for each club, but the idea has hit a roadblock in the form of the players.

The AFLPA is wary of extending a season that has reached a record length in 2024. Another match would stretch the season out to almost seven months.

The AFL last year added a 23rd home-and-away game with the inception of the highly popular Gather Round in Adelaide.

The introduction this year of the opening round, held in NSW and Queensland, resulted in the season starting over the Labour Day long weekend. A 24th game would likely see an even earlier kick-off in the first weekend of March.

As a comparison, the AFL’s first 18-team season in 2012 began with a standalone game in Sydney on March 24 between the Swans and the league’s youngest club Greater Western Sydney.

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“The AFLPA hasn’t had any specific discussions with the AFL about adding an extra game to the AFL fixture,” AFLPA general manager of player and stakeholder relations Brett Murphy said in a statement sent to this masthead.

“The reality is this would be additional workload for the playing group, and we’re conscious of what we’re asking players to do from a health, safety and wellbeing perspective when the season is already longer than it’s ever been.