COLLINGWOOD and Adelaide players will deliver a silent protest to Channel Seven in Friday night's match, refusing any interviews before or after the game in anger at the network's publication of drug allegations and players' personal medical details.

Players from other clubs are contemplating joining the Magpies and Crows players in refusing to answer questions from Seven representatives in press conferences or respond to requests for interviews before and after matches.

The move comes as police last night charged two people over the theft of the documents from a drug rehabilitation clinic. Channel Seven admitted to paying a woman $3000 for the documents, which she had said were found in a gutter outside a medical clinic.

The charges came after detectives yesterday attended Channel Seven's Docklands offices and executed a warrant for the handing over of the documents and file tapes of the story aired on Friday.

Collingwood's Nick Maxwell, who is on the AFL Players' Association executive, said the players were "filthy" at Seven's behaviour and "across the board, we have decided to boycott Channel Seven at this stage for the week".

Maxwell met yesterday morning with the club's most senior players including Nathan Buckley and James Clement to discuss the issue. The leaders will meet the entire squad this morning and announce the decision to boycott Seven.

"We came to the opinion that if we were asked to speak to anyone … that we'd avoid Channel Seven because of what happened," Maxwell said. "They have gone out and bought someone's private medical records and morally it is not the right thing to do. We are filthy on it."

Adelaide's Brett Burton, who is vice-president of the association, said he also would refuse to answer any questions put to him by a Seven reporter at a press conference scheduled for this afternoon.

Burton told The Age he would also refuse any interviews on Friday night and would encourage his teammates to do the same. Adelaide's Mark Ricciuto is contracted to Channel Seven.

Association chief executive Brendon Gale yesterday hit out at Seven's decision to air the story and joined the association in the legal action to suppress the identities of the players and football club named in the documents.

"The feeling … is one of absolute outrage and disgust," Gale said yesterday.

"Players are asking at the moment whether they should actually be giving up their time to make themselves available to Channel Seven at the moment.

"Why would they give their time and co-operation to a media organisation that has so blatantly breached trust?"

The AFL refused to comment last night on the requirements of players for the match broadcasters.

Channel Seven news director Steve Carey called for calm. "I just hope that in the cool light of day when passions are less inflamed that we actually sit down and look at what we've done," he said.

"I'd welcome the opportunity at some stage to sit down with Brendon (Gale) and go through it with him … but I would urge that calmer and cooler heads would take a step back and actually have a look at what's been done.

"A lot of his problem from my understanding was that assumption that we had named the players or we intended to (but) we have not."

While a supporter of the theory behind the illicit drugs policy, Burton yesterday said he had lost faith in the system and at the next meeting of the AFLPA executive would recommend that the players withdraw unless the protection of players' privacy could be guaranteed. He said it was a growing feeling among the AFL playing collective.

"It's all starting to get a bit too hard," Burton said. "I'd want to know some fairly good evidence to suggest that this isn't going to happen again, otherwise I'm comfortable with withdrawing.

"I'm starting to get more and more pressure from players to say 'well, let's just stuff it' … that's comments from other players but also players from the Adelaide footy club in general discussion.

"First there was the was the ASADA leak obviously and now this one as well you can understand players' frustrations from it.

"I'm still very strong that I think it's a great policy and I feel very comfortable that we're trying to show the way and try and stamp illicit drugs out, however in the back of my mind I'm saying it's like trying to do the right thing and all you're doing is getting slammed for it."

AFLPA president Joel Bowden conceded that in the current climate he would feel uncomfortable if he were receiving treatment under the illicit drugs policy guidelines.

Burton said there was "no way" he would trust the system and there was a general feeling of a breakdown in trust amongst AFL players.

Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley who was on the AFLPA executive when it first approved what was then a trail-blazing illicit drugs policy in sport said on Sunday that the code was now untenable.

With ANDREA PETRIE and JILL STARK