Collingwood skipper Steph Chiocci says the decision to block transgender athlete Hannah Mouncey from playing AFL Women's made sense because of her physical advantage.
Mouncey was barred by the league from this year's draft less than 24 hours before it was held in Melbourne on Wednesday.
The 190cm, 100kg ruck was told she would instead be allowed to nominate for the 2018 draft.
A former member of the Australian men's handball team, Mouncey began a gender transition in 2015 and played for Ainslie in Canberra's women's football league this season.
It is understood an AFL sub-committee rejected her draft nomination based on an exception in the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission's guidelines.
The exception is to ensure players don't have an unfair competitive advantage in single-sex competitions where the strength, stamina or physique of players is relevant.
Chiocci said she believed Collingwood would have fully accepted Mouncey if she had been drafted.
But the Magpies captain said she could see the logic in the AFL's decision.
"If you look at a lot of the girls drafted today, the 18-year-olds, they're still to put on that muscle bulk and actually develop themselves in the gym," Chiocci told AAP.
"It does make sense in that regard but there are some bigger girls out there anyway that are really strong athletes.
"I'm sure the AFL have made a decision based on really good reasoning and research behind it, and hopefully she gets a crack at it next year."
Melbourne women's coach Mick Stinear took a similar view, saying there was more work to be done in teaching players how to protect themselves from injury.
"I hope Hannah gets an opportunity in the years to come," he said.
"For me, one thing we're still working closely on is players' approach and attack at the footy ... how to best look after themselves and still get a good outcome of being able to win the footy.
"Once we get better at that - small or tall, like you see with the men - you should be able to compete against anyone."
The AFLPA on Tuesday criticised the league for dragging its feet on the issue, having long been aware of Mouncey's intentions to nominate.
