THE AFLW faces a tough enough road gaining traction in the mainstream sports world without being undermined by its own governing body, something the AFL has been accused of following the opening round of the women’s competition.

Melbourne legend Garry Lyon has slammed the AFL for interfering in the young league after it was reported officials spoke to team representatives, encouraging them to deploy tactics that will result free flowing footy and high scores.

The instruction comes after a dour opening-round match between Carlton and Collingwood which saw only five goals kicked as the Blues won 3.4 (22) to 2.2 (14), but Lyon believes the AFL is disrespecting the female league if it tells teams how to play.

The ex-Demons skipper said in a professional environment winning is the number one priority. If the AFL wants more exciting footy then it needs to put directives in the rule book rather than just tell teams to change their style because it discredits the league.

“Is this an exhibition game or, as we have been told repeatedly since AFLW came in, will we treat these women and this sport with the respect it deserves?” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.

“They’re professional athletes, they’re competitors, they want to win and they’re dedicating themselves to the process.

“Coaches are then required to coach in a certain manner.

“If you want an attractive and high scoring game, legislate and take it out of the hands of the coaches.

“Coaches are going to be competitive.

“I agree it was ugly and that is a concern, but legislate.

“Don’t, after one round, go to the coaches and say, ‘Hang on a minute, make it attractive.’

“That isn’t their obligation.

“You can’t come out and say you want a competitive game and a professional league, we have (Melbourne star) Daisy Pearce telling us how much it means to her, and you’ve got girls sacrificing so much.

“Then you say, ‘Hey, hey, hey, don’t worry about winning, just make it look good.’”

Lyon said the powers that be can’t dictate when and where aggressive tactics are implemented because a one-size-fits-all approach simply won’t work.

“Ten minutes into the last quarter of the grand final, what is the priority of the coaches?” Lyon said. “I can put one or two behind the footy and we win the premiership, or, well no, we want it open and attractive, therefore I won’t.”

Lyon referenced the Western Bulldogs’ 7.7 (49) to 3.5 (23) win over Fremantle in round one during which the Dogs were criticised for not putting enough defenders behind the ball to protect a lead, reaffirming how messy the situation can get if the AFL interferes.

“Fremantle were playing the Western Bulldogs on the weekend,” Lyon said. “The Dogs have kicked three or four goals, and rightfully so, (commentator and former Hawthorn star) Ben Dixon says Freo need to put one behind the ball.

“He was saying the coach wasn’t doing their job because they weren’t putting players behind the ball.

“Where does it start and where does it end?”

Ex-Hawthorn and Carlton star Daniel Harford, who is assistant coach of the Collingwood AFLW team, said the AFL’s response to the weekend’s games didn’t warrant an over-reaction but warned the governing body was wading into dangerous territory if it started prioritising aesthetic appeal over results.

“My understanding is this is what happened last year — there’ll be a conversation at the end of a weekend between the AFL and the coaches and it’s happened again this year so I don’t think this is anything out of the ordinary from what I’m led to believe,” Harford said on RSN Breakfast.

“Philosophically I think the AFL need to be very careful about the message they send to the AFLW competition, the clubs and the players, as to what they want the competition to be.

“Do they want it to be a serious, competitive environment? Or do they want it to be a showcase of free-flowing entertainment/football?

“The danger from the AFL”s perspective is if you start to encourage entertainment as opposed to winning, you haven’t got much of a competition.

“The clubs are quite annoyed about that.”

This reaction comes after former Richmond coach Terry Wallace blasted coaches’ defensive tactics in round one, saying he would encourage means to make the product more attractive.

“Why, at this level of football, are they playing a plus-one in the defensive area of the ground? It’s making it more difficult,” Wallace told SEN on Tuesday.

“It is difficult enough for them to score at the moment. There’s not a lot of the girls that can take contested marks in the game — a few that do really stand out.

“I don’t know how you can bring it in, but if I was the AFLW, I’d be getting on the phone to the coaches and saying, ‘Can we play this as pure as what we possibly can?’”

Despite the uproar, 35 goals were kicked in four games to start the second season of the AFLW — seven more goals than were seen in last year’s opening round.