In the current era, players are very athletic, and very strong. These are attributes that lead to injury. Peter Bell once complained, he didn't know that players as slow as him could do hamstrings.
And the workplace thing, well that is tricky. Yes, of course its a workplace, but its also a game. There are thousands of people, old and young, who for the sheer love of it go out on the weekend and come home with rolled ankles, busted collarbones, black eyes, cuts and bruises etc etc. Most sports are inherently risky, whether you are paid to do them or not. But the degree to which the AFL clubs accept responsibility for injuries their players incur has surely increased in recent years.
