In the anonymous Code Sports survey, football’s biggest player agents lifted the lid on some of the hidden battles facing the league’s players, with 76.5 per cent saying gambling among footballers was a concern.

On the issue of drug use, 52.9 per cent said it was a problem for players.

When asked ‘what is the most difficult issue you’ve had to deal with for a client?’ one manager said the “gambling ease through apps” was a major factor.

The player agents also revealed the most difficult issues they’ve had to manage with “untrue accusations regarding player relationships” and “drug exposure/covid vaccination” some of the responses.

The AFL has been plagued with issues surrounding both social and performance enhancing substance abuse with the league still grappling over a revised illicit drugs policy.

It comes after the Herald Sun revealed last year a former Melbourne Football Club doctor had ­admitted to conducting “off the books” illicit drug tests to help players evade ­detection on match days.

Former Carlton footballer Brendan Fevola has previously spoken of his crippling gambling addiction he faced during his playing career.

Other responses in the exclusive survey, spoke to concerns about players when they left the game, with “life after football” and “life balance” labelled a big issue for players.

While some clubs encourage players to find a non-football passion – St Kilda has required all of its players this year to study or work away from the club – managers held doubts their clients would handle the outside world after retirement.

One manager said he had avoided any major issues with players due to their “no dickheads policy”.

“If I’m honest, I haven’t had any,” the manager said.

When asked to reveal the most quirky and unusual requests from players, the agents had a host of stories to tell including one who had a player ask them “how to turn on their pool pump?”

One said they had to make “phone calls to ‘fans’ who have become a bit too obsessive”, another said to “look after a dog” and one agent revealed they organised DNA testing on a pregnant woman who “alleged to be carrying a client’s baby which actually was a fake pregnancy.”

Asked if clubs were doing enough to help players get ready for life post-football, 64.7 per cent said no.

And 82.4 per cent said not enough was being done to support player welfare, including mental health and concussion education.

But the agents said the AFL Players Association was working to help footballers, with 58.8 per cent of responses giving the AFLPA an effectiveness score of at least seven out of 10.

When asked for examples of the big concerns for agents, responses included “lack of balance in their lives”, “the pressure to perform”, having “a lot of money at a young age”, “public scrutiny and expectations” and “life after football”.

An AFLPA survey of players revealed that 14 per cent of players who experienced concussion in 2024 did not report their symptoms.

In the Code Sports agents survey, 41.2 per cent of agents knew of players hiding concussion.

THE FULL AFL PLAYER AGENTS SURVEY

Click across to see all the results