AFL PLAYERS boss Brendon Gale was last night trying to contact ousted Swan star Barry Hall in a bid to clarify the circumstances of the public saga that he described as "most un-Sydney-like'.

Although club chairman Richard Colless stressed to The Age that the Swans were not about "casting your own adrift", Gale said the players association had a number of concerns about the manner in which Hall's personal problems had been exposed by Sydney and the length of the troubled forward's enforced lay-off.

"My issue is with the indefinite nature of this situation that Barry is facing," Gale said.

"When the Sydney decision first became public I thought: 'Well this is a club with a strong leadership group and Barry has already put it on the record that he has got personal issues'.

"In a sense you treat those issues as you would an injury and you go away and deal with the injury and I'm encouraged by that if it's true. But I wasn't initially aware of Barry's thoughts on the situation until I read his comments (in yesterday's Age).

"The industrial concern is the indefinite nature of this and the fact that Barry's return has been left to the arbitrary discretion of the club psychologist. I've left Barry a message and I'm trying to get hold of him to hear his thoughts before I speak with the club."

Gale, who met yesterday with Sydney football operations boss Andrew Ireland as part of the Gold Coast list development working party, said the pair had not discussed the Hall issue because it would have been "inappropriate". However, he said the association would continue to monitor the Hall saga.

"I realise Barry has already spoken about his personal problems but I must say the dissemination of information by the club in releasing the details of this decision to stand Barry down has been most un-Sydney-like," Gale said.

Meanwhile, Colless conceded even he was unsure what the future held for Hall despite declaring his support for the embattled star, stating that while the best interests of the club "must take precedence over anything".

Colless was also swift to quash suggestions that the Swans' move to stand down Hall was a manouevre aimed at ousting the former captain and replacing him with Carlton forward Brendan Fevola. Colless declared: "I think there's as much chance of Brendan Fevola playing for Sydney as there is me."

The club took the radical step on Monday of standing down Hall indefinitely after an incident in their clash with Collingwood last Saturday that led to him being charged with attempting to strike defender Shane Wakelin.

Asked if this could be the end for Hall at the club, Colless replied: "I honestly don't know. I haven't spoken to Barry. But the point I want to make is the philosophy, the ethos, the guidelines … call them what you will that have underpinned our club, where the collective unit must take precedence over the individual, in no way conflicts with my personal view or the view of just about everyone who has an interest in the club, that club has a duty of care to Barry and I don't think they are mutually exclusive.

"There is this balance between what's in the best interest of the club that takes precedence over anything, but at the same time not casting your own adrift. It might sound very goody-two-shoes but that's the way it is. It's like with your kids. There are rules of the house but if they are broken, it doesn't mean you stop loving your kids."

The incident came the day after there was talk that Fevola was headed to Sydney on a four-year, $3 million deal — a claim the Swans categorically denied. The same day Fevola was in Sydney, while his wife Alex had a work assignment.

"You can't rebuild a club the way it's been rebuilt, around trust, and then do something that is fundamentally undermining trust, and assume the status quo is going to be maintained," Colless said.

"I really don't believe too many people would subscribe to the conspiracy theory, to be perfectly honest.

"I think in the context of Brendan Fevola, if Brendan Fevola desperately wanted to come to Sydney, as with any great player, you'd be mad if you didn't at least have the conversation. But there's no evidence of that."

Yesterday Sydney coach Paul Roos was once again asked about Fevola. He said he had not spoken to him during Fevola's weekend trip to Sydney, adding that the two matters were "mutually exclusive".

Hall confirmed earlier in the year that personal issues were to blame for his snap in April, when he hit Eagle Brent Staker. Roos was quizzed as to whether he felt the Fevola speculation might have played a role in the latest incident, involving Wakelin.

"Not that I know of, and it certainly wasn't around with the Brent Staker thing," Roos said. "I wouldn't have thought that would have had any bearing on the weekend." He said Hall was "a fantastic guy" whom he had "a lot of respect for".