The thorny issue of equalisation continues to generate heated debate, with AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou hopeful of an agreement by mid-year.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has slammed an AFL proposal of a tax on the revenue of richer clubs such as the Magpies.
McGuire is similarly pessimistic about an agreement being reached in the next few days.
There were apparently hopes of some announcement around next week’s season launch in Adelaide, but that now appears unlikely.
There was vigorous debate at last week’s meeting of the AFL working party looking at the complex equalisation issue.
McGuire is a member of that committee and said of last week’s meeting: “I was the heat”.
But Demetriou said clubs such as Collingwood were entitled to put forward their case.
The working party is due to meet again on Thursday ahead of next Tuesday’s meeting of the 18 clubs.
Asked if there could be some agreement by the season launch on Wednesday of next week, Demetriou told AAP: “I honestly don’t know”.
“Instinctively, it tells me we probably won’t.
“But we’ve never set a deadline for the season’s launch – we’ve always said we’d like to have something in place probably by the middle of the year to implement for 2015.
“What’s most important is to get it right – it’s really complex.”
Demetriou denied that last week’s meeting had been overly-heated.
“I’ve been in meetings that were much more robust – not on this issue, on other issues,” Demetriou said.
“Some salient points were made last week, some more forcefully than others – that’s okay.
“This notion that people get together and have a singalong discussion, hold hands and everything is beautiful – I’ve never been in a meeting like that.
“It’s absolutely logical to have robust discussions.”
McGuire remains adamant that richer clubs such as the ‘Pies should not be taxed to help balance the league.
“The money is there, so let’s get a few other people putting in,” McGuire told Triple M.
“Clubs already put enough in as it is.
“I’m not against equalisation, I just reckon the AFL should be funding it.”