Fremantle coach Ross Lyon says former colleague Paul Roos is wrong to criticise Nat Fyfe over his defensive work rate.

Speaking on Fox Footy, Roos labelled Fyfe’s two-way running as “bottom-end” and revealed that teams were already devising ways to expose the superstar midfielder away from stoppages.

His comments followed scathing criticism from outspoken coaching great Mick Malthouse, who said Fyfe’s defensive application was “deplorable” in a column for The Sunday Times.

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But Lyon was quick to defend the Brownlow medallist and revealed Fyfe’s offensive positioning formed part of his game plan.

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“No (Roos) is not (right),” Lyon told 7NEWS.

Play Video Premiership coach Paul Roos says coaches have already devised plans to expose the Fremantle skipper's two-way running. The West Australian Video Premiership coach Paul Roos says coaches have already devised plans to expose the Fremantle skipper's two-way running.

“The first thing is, Nathan is an outstanding player. It’s easy to leverage a headline off him - everyone picks it up and runs with it.

“All great midfielders try to be exploited by the opposition and that’s why team defences (have) really come about because as they’re trying to run you forward, you just hand over to a half-back and you stay where you need to get the ball, which is the midfield.

Lyon, who was an assistant coach under Roos at Sydney, said his former colleague’s opinion reflected the defensive game style he used to employ.

“You’ve got to understand Paul’s lens ... (He taught) the strictest one-on-one game plan probably in the last 30 years,” Lyon said.

“We look through different lenses and we see different things but both coaches (saw) fit to give Nathan (Fyfe) coaches association votes on the weekend.

“He’s a very special player, teams try to exploit him and I would say he’s in pretty good form.”

Fyfe sits fourth in the AFL Coaches Association MVP award, after earning best-on-ground honours for his performance against North Melbourne in round one.