The effectiveness of Gunston snr's attempt to build a bridge with the AFLPA remains questionable however, as reigning Brownlow medallist Patrick Dangerfield continued to rail against the AFL's treatment of the AFLPA in collective bargaining agreement talks. The Geelong superstar says his peers want more respect than they have been given by the league.

While the two parties have settled on the definition of what would be shared under the fixed-percentage revenue scheme demanded by the union, the players feel little progress has been made following the visit of senior AFL executives Gunston and Andrew Dillon at an AFLPA delegates and directors conference in Torquay.

Though appreciative of Gunston and Dillon's efforts in attending the meeting, Dangerfield and fellow AFLPA leaders Matthew Pavlich and Paul Marsh reiterated their disappointment at the failure of AFL chief Gillon McLachlan to venture to the Bellarine Peninsula for the meeting, which Pavlich said had featured "robust" discussions.

It's understood Gunston told players on Friday that he appreciated their position, given his son – while not an AFLPA delegate – was among the playing cohort.

That, though, wasn't enough to appease AFLPA board member Dangerfield and recently retired Fremantle great Pavlich. Speaking after the meeting, the pair urged the AFL to be more proactive in dealing with the union. Dangerfield again left the spectre of a pre-season strike on the table, although Pavlich said that was an "absolute last resort".

Dangerfield was forthright when discussing the AFL's conduct. "It's been difficult to negotiate, and the AFL have been really difficult in coming to the table and haven't spoken to the PA for the past month," Dangerfield said.

"To get the opportunity today has been wonderful, albeit without the CEO in attendance and I think internally there were some disappointed players who have flown across the country in order to be here. We were perhaps looking for more respect than we've got."

The PA has been steadfast in its demand for a fixed percentage of "football revenue" believed to be around 27 to 30 per cent, although chief executive Marsh wasn't ready to specify a figure when asked about the matter.

Pavlich said that ground had been made with the league with regard to what came under the umbrella of "football revenue".

"That's relatively complex. But it excludes a number of things like government grants, gaming, club shared services, Telstra revenue," Pavlich said.

But despite that agreement, he was unhappy with the AFL's lack of a genuine counter-offer. "It was good that they came down and shared their views with us. We would have loved to have seen Gill ... but do appreciate that Ray and Andrew made the effort.

"To this stage we haven't heard the reasons why we're not negotiating. They probably didn't answer those questions in the light that we would have liked. They've indicated today that there's a way forward, and we certainly want to move towards a way forward, but as of today we haven't heard specifically why we can't sit down."

Gunston – the AFL's general manager of finance, corporate and major projects – said that a fixed-percentage model was not off the table, but said the league needed to consider the players as just one of many stakeholders in the game. He also played down the absence of McLachlan. "I'm the guy who's leading negotiations for the CBA and I put my hand up when the invitation came in to come down and have the opportunity to speak," Gunston said.

"Today was a really good day. We've had an opportunity to talk. We're walking towards a fair deal for the players. It's not a quick deal."

Gunston denied that the onus was on the AFL to act. "In a negotiation the ball's in every court as it whizzes around so we're all just working together and talking through things."