Adelaide forward Brett Burton is the new AFL Players' Association president, AFLPA CEO Matthew Finnis announced on Wednesday night.
Burton has been appointed the AFLPA's 12th president, replacing former Richmond defender Joel Bowden, who has retired from his position as president and as a member of the AFLPA executive committee.
The 31-year-old was honoured to be selected for the role and his focus will be on further enhancing the culture of leadership among the executive committee.
"Developing our senior people, particularly the executive committee, is vital if we are to successfully represent the interests of the players," Burton said.
"As AFLPA president, I want to contribute to the improvement of players, and improvement of football in general. Taking on the role of president gives me the opportunity to lead the Executive and lead the organisation toward that goal."
Burton said a key challenge for the AFLPA over the coming year was negotiating the new collective bargaining agreement with the AFL.
"The popularity of AFL football in the community is growing exponentially and at the heart of that growth is the hard work and dedication of AFL-listed players," Burton said.
"Coming into my 12th season of footy and also having spent time as vice-president of the AFLPA, I think I am well placed to help drive an agenda that will lead to the players’ talent, skill and effort – and the value it brings to the game – being better recognised in the new agreement."
At Wednesday night's AGM, Hawthorn's Brad Sewell, Fremantle's Matthew Pavlich and North Melbourne's Drew Petrie were all formally elected onto the AFLPA executive committee.
The trio replaces Bowden and Tom Harley, who both retired last year, and Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell.
The AFLPA executive committee is made up of:
Brett Burton (Adelaide), Luke Power (Brisbane), Luke Ball (Collingwood), Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle), Brad Sewell (Hawthorn), Drew Petrie (North Melbourne), Adam Goodes (Sydney), Robert Murphy (Western Bulldogs), Ashley Hansen (West Coast), Simon Madden (past player representative) and Matthew Finnis (AFLPA CEO)