AFL WOMEN'S boss Nicole Livingstone has defended the hotly debated directive issued to coaches aimed at preventing teams from putting extra players around the ball.
From round two teams will be required to set up for centre bounces with five defenders, six midfielders and five forwards.
"The memo that went out yesterday is not a knee-jerk reaction, there has been quite a lot of communication that's gone on since the inception of the AFLW, with the coaching staff and the clubs and it's not the first opportunity we've had to talk to them about the style of play," Livingstone said in Sydney on Thursday.
She said she was comfortable with the balance being struck between winning and attractive football.
Low scoring and congestion dominated the round-one matches of the NAB AFLW competition – specifically the season opener between Carlton and Collingwood.
While the AFL directive has provoked negative feedback, Livingstone insisted they had involved prior consultation with coaches.
"We opened up by asking them what their thoughts on the round were and what they would like to be able to see in terms of improvement and what the challenges are," she said.
"This is not a rule change, this is a spirit of the game initiative that [has brought] unified agreement from all the coaches.
"It's not the best-case scenario to be doing this during a season, but we also have to put in perspective that the AFLW season is seven rounds.
"It's not the same as the AFL season, so we couldn't wait until the end of round seven or after a Grand Final."
AFL legend Leigh Matthews weighed into the debate on Thursday, saying coaches always focused on winning above all else.
"AFL must realise coaches only care about the spectacle at coach conferences! " he tweeted.
"In the coaching box where the team performance buck stops with the coach the look of the game is irrelevant, how to win dominates, AFL are the sport's carers and must implement rules not requests."
Livingstone wasn't unduly concerned by the drop in TV ratings for the opening game between the Blues and the Magpies compared to the corresponding fixture last year.
'Round one and year one of the AFLW is almost a bit of a false economy," Livingstone said.
"You can try and compare it to round one and season number one but we were creating history.
"This was a complete unknown and now it's about trying to just continue to grow and to develop from where we are, so I'm not concerned about the ratings."
