AFL rookies will be better paid from 2012 onwards after the AFL and the AFLPA reached an agreement under the new collective bargaining agreement.

Although the overall CBA is yet to be finalised, AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou said on Friday the two parties had agreed to boost the salary of rookies.

"In principle, both groups have acknowledged that the rookies need to be paid more money, and it's a matter of working out what that is," Demetriou said.

"I think that was pretty much something that everyone was on the same page about."

The current minimum wage for rookies is $35,400, despite the fact they are considered much the same as their senior list counterparts - full-time athletes.

AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson told The Age last week he thought the minimum standard should be "something closer to $50,000", which would equate to a 43 per cent pay rise.

The exact figure is yet to be announced.

Demetriou said he hoped the overall CBA would be finalised "sooner rather than later", but admitted the AFL had not changed its view on the AFLPA's request for a flat percentage of total League revenue.

The players' association is after a fixed 25-27 per cent share of the revenue, and has rejected the AFL's offer of a new deal worth almost $1.1 billion over five years. 

"We'll have to try and do our best [to agree]. That's all we can do," Demetriou said.

"Adrian Anderson and [AFLPA CEO] Matt Finnis have had some dialogue, and I'm privy to that dialogue and they've agreed to continue that dialogue.

"That's a positive thing."

Earlier, Demetriou told SEN he didn't believe in the fixed percentage claim "philosophically", but believed the two parties "would get there in the end".

He told 3AW Anderson had continued discussions with Finnis over the past two weeks while he was on leave, and had set up another meeting.