Carlton captain Chris Judd has suggested that if the AFL is willing to give ground on the duration of a new collective bargaining agreement with players, it might prove a circuit-breaker in their long-running pay dispute.

So far, the league and the AFL players' association have been staunchly at odds over the governing body's refusal to accept the players' demand to be guaranteed a fixed percentage of the code's revenue.

But, with the AFL having offered a five-year deal, in line with their next broadcast agreement, and the players wanting a three-year term, Judd said if the deal was limited to three years, or even fewer, the fixed percentage claim would become less important.

"Logic would stand to reason, that if you wanted a five-year deal then I think the players would be more focussed on having a share of revenue, because obviously a lot can change in five years," Judd said on Monday night.

"If it was a shorter deal, then it would make sense that perhaps that wasn't as important an issue, because you could foresee what's going to happen in one or two years, or maybe even three years.

"But it becomes a lot harder to forecast what is going to happen five years down the track.

"... Obviously, if you do it every 12 months, you don't need that percentage revenue (deal) at all, because you can just negotiate it every 12 months and you know what you're dealing with. That's why it becomes an issue."

Judd stressed that he was not directly involved in the AFLPA's negotiations, with the view on the contract length his personal opinion.

But given his enormous standing in the game, Judd's view is likely to carry some weight, particularly as players have until now been publicly united in their stand that the fixed-revenue demand is a key pillar of their claim.

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