Gillon McLachlan believes the AFL's illicit drugs policy provides an avenue to treatment despite revelations ice ruined Chris Yarran's career.
Yarran has revealed ice addiction put an end to his 119-game career, with all efforts including $1000-a-night rehabilitation failing to help him.
The 26-year-old, who claims to now be on the road to recovery, quit the AFL in late 2016 before playing a game for Richmond, having suffered a series of injuries after being traded from Carlton the previous year.
"I went from a fit, healthy athlete to a slob ... I started to miss training because I didn't want to be seen in the messed-up state I was in," Yarran said.
The AFL Players Association would not reveal if they attempted to provide support to Yarran but said the league's illicit drugs policy provided the opportunity for early intervention through regular drug testing.
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AFL chief McLachlan backed the policy.
"Part of the model is if you actually have a problem or vulnerability, it's identified through the program," McLachlan told 3AW on Friday.
"You then are not able to play and you are treated. It's very possible he was being treated by the right people the whole time."
Richmond football manager Neil Balme confirmed the club worked with Yarran and his decision to leave was mutual.
"We didn't offload him. He couldn't play and couldn't train, so we came to an agreement," Balme told SEN radio.
"He wanted us to help him and the club worked very hard to do it.
"We gave him every chance to do that and I think we've helped him enormously and I hope that we are part of the fact that he is now able to say, 'I'm back on track'."
The AFLPA's player development manager Brett Johnson said challenges similar to the ice addiction suffered by Yarran are being faced by ex-AFL players daily.
"We've got 3500 past-player members and I guess we deal with this sort of thing on a daily basis" Johnson told SEN.
"Whether that be issues related to mental health or physical health, financial hardship."
