The head of the AFL says the league needs to find a balance between giving players a break and looking after their welfare.
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said incidents tended to happen when players were on holiday, but young men couldn’t be wrapped in cotton wool.
“In many cases the safest place for them to be is at the club but they are entitled to have a break,” Mr Demetriou told ABC Radio on Wednesday.
“The players are at the club most of that time. They are very structured in what they do and it is very regimented.”
Port Adelaide player John McCarthy, 22, fell to his death from the roof of a Las Vegas casino complex while on an end-of-season trip.
A group of 10 of McCarthy’s teammates arrived back from the US early Wednesday.
Mr Demetriou said all AFL clubs would send chaperones and senior club officials with players when they went on trips, whether they were in large or small groups.
“The clubs tend to send a chaperone and a club doctor in many instances,” Mr Demetriou said.
“We have to find the balance as a football code; to get that balance right about what a break constitutes, where the break is and how it can be done better.
“It is a conundrum for football clubs because you can’t wrap these guys up for 12 months a year.
“You actually do want the guys to have a break but at the same time you also want to make sure that you look after their welfare.”