Brisbane Lions coach Leigh Matthews says he's never once suspected opposing players of doping as the latest AFL drug speculation flares around the league.

Matthews' statements come after Western Bulldog and former Lion Jason Akermanis revealed the name of an opponent he accused of drug taking to sport's anti-doping authority.

Akermanis said at the weekened the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority called him to discuss the claim made in a newspaper column last week.

The player is accused of using erythropoietin - better known as EPO - a hormone which increases the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood and boosts endurance.

But Matthews said it was a big leap to accuse a player of doping based solely on fluctuating weekly performances on the football field.

"It's the first time I've heard it mentioned," Matthews said.

"Players improve and players look worse and some weeks they look fantastic and some weeks they look terrible. That's the nature of human performance.

"It's a big call. Personally, no it's never crossed my mind. Has it crossed my mind that 'jeez he might be on something?' I can't say that."

EPO is difficult to detect and can only be uncovered through blood analysis, but Matthews was reluctant to advise the league to ramp up its testing procedures given the cost and nature of mass blood sampling.

"Blood testing is invasive. It's very different. The one thing you know is there's no health risk in taking urine. Blood requires putting a needle in your vein and the AFL didn't like us doing that with the IV hydration. It's a health risk," he said.

"It's a very different thing to go and have massive numbers of blood tests than massive numbers of urine tests. You could say if you wanted to go to the nth degree that every player should be tested every week, but you'd have 100,000 tests at massive, massive costs.

"I guess the AFL try to make it a bit random so if you run the gauntlet, you might get away with it but there's a fair chance you'll get caught."

Matthews also scoffed talk of tanking in the AFL to secure draft picks after Carlton was accused of taking their foot off the pedal in the final quarter of their loss to Collingwood.

"I'm of the view that people who talk about tanking have no idea what people in the games think or feel. It's a complete naivety.

"The recruiting department of the footy club might want the draft choice, but they don't have anything to do with putting the team on the field each week.

"It's totally foreign for coaches and players to go to the footy without being prepared to barrack for the win. And I believe that to be the case.

"So for me, the tanking concept is by people who don't understand the competitive urges that participants feel."