Zak Butters reacts during Port Adelaide's win over Carlton in round 20, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos

IT HAPPENED 28 times over the weekend, enough for your eyes to simply glaze over.

A player was charged by the Match Review, the incident was deemed worthy of a financial sanction, the club was contacted, the player was made aware, a press release was sent out, and then everyone moved on.

But what happens next?

Every week, a host of players across the competition are docked thousands of dollars in fines for misdemeanours deemed worthy of financial sanction by the Match Review Officer.

Zak Butters should know more than most. As revealed by AFL.com.au, the Port Adelaide star became the first player in V/AFL history to be fined $40,000 after he failed to overturn a pair or sanctions at the AFL Tribunal last week.

The AFL's most fined: Butters' bill hits record level

Toby Greene can sympathise with Butters. The Greater Western Sydney captain recently became the joint-most sanctioned player in the game's history, having paid fines totalling $35,600 across his career.

But how do those penalties get paid? And where does the money go?

Toby Greene in action during GWS' clash with Melbourne in round 20, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos

Unlike your everyday traffic offences, there are no letters sent to the players' residence to make them aware of the fine. In fact, the players are barely even involved in the process of paying the fine.

The process begins with the League fining the club of the charged player. The club handles the initial bill, informs its payroll of the offence, and the total monetary amount of the fine is deducted from the base payment of the player's monthly wage.

Multiple clubs and player agents contacted by AFL.com.au this week confirmed that the sanctions are withdrawn as an after-tax payment, with the League receiving the full whack of the total fine.

Over the last few years, every cent of the money inherited by the AFL following these financial sanctions has gone towards funding the League's concussion research projects.

The progress of the AFL's concussion research projects are then reported to the AFL's Concussion Steering Group, which has representation from the AFL Players' Association.

Those projects are about to receive another healthy cash injection. Last year, players paid $212,000 worth of fines across the season. Last weekend alone, they paid $42,500. It will make for another busy week for the payroll officers working in club land.