The AFL players association remains unsure if a new pay deal will be reached before the start of the season, despite constructive talks.
The drawn-out negotiations have progressed to the point where it is a matter of when, not if, the AFLPA will reach a deal with the league on a new collective bargaining agreement.
Yet players boss Paul Marsh said after the association's annual general meeting on Tuesday that they were not at the point where specific details were being finalised.
Marsh and other players association representatives met on Monday with AFL officials.
"I saw the reports today and I can say the numbers that have been thrown around certainly haven't been agreed," Marsh said.
"Certainly what I can say is we've been having constructive discussions weekly ... we are progressing.
"Week by week, we're getting closer.
"I can't put an end date on it but I am confident we're getting there."
Collingwood captain and new AFLPA board member Scott Pendlebury said the players still "wouldn't rule out" industrial action but that is now considered highly unlikely.
Marsh added while they wanted the deal in place by the start of the season, it was not critical.
"In practical terms it doesn't matter that much - players are getting paid, they have contracts in place,"' he said.
"But it would be a nice thing to get this out of the way ... there's still work to be done and I'm not making any promises.
"That's just the nature of what we do - some days you go a couple of steps forward and then you go a few steps back, that's the nature of it.
"I'm being cagey but that's because it's really hard to give an end date for this.
"We obviously have numbers in mind but I can honestly say we haven't got to the point where we're talking in that much specific detail."
The AFLPA remains committed to locking in a set percentage of the league's revenue as part of the new deal.
"There's forecast revenue - we've said for a long time now, that is a known parcel of revenue," Marsh said.
"We're happy to agree to a number but I guess we need a mechanism when unbudgeted revenue ends up being more than budgetted revenue.
"That's a key issue we're working through."
Meanwhile, Melbourne captain Daisy Pearce is the first woman elected to the players association board.
She is among five new board members, along with Pendlebury, Giants co-captain Phil Davis, Western Bulldogs veteran Easton Wood and Carlton's Sam Docherty.
Fremantle great Matthew Pavlich, who stays AFLPA president, has won the Madden Medal - awarded to a newly-retired player for his on- and off-field contributions.
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