Eleven of the AFL's 18 coaches attended a dinner at McLachlan's home on Monday night, where the AFL chief said they chatted about the game over a curry, naan bread and "a lot of beverages provided by Carlton United".
Adam Simpson (West Coast), Ross Lyon (Fremantle), Ken Hinkley (Port Adelaide), Justin Leppitsch (Brisbane Lions) and John Longmire (Sydney Swans) were unavailable to travel to Victoria for the dinner, while Paul Roos (Melbourne) and Mark Thompson (Essendon) had television commitments.
McLachlan told reporters on Tuesday morning that he and the coaches had discussed a wide range of issues in a relaxed setting with no fixed agenda.
"It was a chat to talk about the game and to talk about where it's at and ideas and philosophies, and so from my perspective I think it was a really productive night," McLachlan said after the launch of the AFL's Multicultural Round.
"They were engaged, they are closer to the coalface of our game than anyone and they are incredibly important people in our game.
"They are the leaders of young men, they are brands in their own right, they are influences in the community as well as the biggest influences over the way the game's played.
"I just want to have a relationship and a dialogue with those guys and I thought last night was a really good way to kick that off."
McLachlan said the topics discussed included the varying strength of the clubs, game style and the influences on the way teams play, the rules and umpiring.
"There was a surprising amount of consensus on a lot of issues," McLachlan said.
McLachlan said he had not specifically raised the need for teams to play an attractive brand of football, but the issue had been canvassed as part of the broader discussion.
"I think there was a consensus that the best of our footy is amazing, and like it's always been, there are games that don't always look so good and we talked about why that might be and the influences on that," he said.
"I think there was a consistency too, that the best teams play great footy and you've got to attack to win and that the spread and strength of our clubs sometimes leads to some less attractive games."
McLachlan said he had not seen footage of Carlton coach Mick Malthouse's clash with Channel Seven commentator Cameron Ling last Saturday night at the SCG.
"I'm not worried about Michael's relationship with Channel Seven in any sense, but I'll see what the vision looks like and have a better comment when I've seen all that," McLachlan said.
