The term means something different for almost everyone.

In fact, there are as many definitions of good governance as there are political philosophies.

And it doesn’t just apply to matters of state.

Essentially, good governance is the responsible management of a public institution by those who are in positions of power.

It’s the art of pulling the levers of power without necessarily being seen to be doing so.

The Australian Football League’s brand of corporate governance has, under the stewardship of chief executive Gillon McLachlan, utterly failed this test.

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If libertarianism is founded on the principle that governments should never interfere in the lives of those they preside over, then McLachlan’s AFL is an authoritarian regime – and a breathtakingly hamfisted one at that.

It started with the rules of the game.

Whether it was the crackdown on deliberate out-of-bounds or the absurd new ‘east-west’ rule, the AFL’s endless tinkering with the rules over the last couple of years has presented a constant source of frustration for footy fans.

But worse still was AFL football operations chief Steve Hocking’s farcical intervention in the burgeoning women’s league earlier this year.

Hocking sent an infamous memo to AFLW coaches in February, asking them to change their tactics so that the competition may produce higher scoring games.

The move typified the modern AFL’s staggering lack of patience and moderation.

Yes, the opening game of the season was by no means a goal-fest. 

Carlton (22) defeated its traditional rival Collingwood (14) in a dour contest at Princes Park.

The AFLW was, at the time, only in its second year.

For perspective, in the first game in the first round of the second VFL season in 1898, Carlton (47) defeated South Melbourne (30) in a low-scoring affair not dissimilar to some of the recent AFLW games.

Somehow, I doubt coaches back then received a patronising memo the following Monday.

Then, this week, the AFL’s heavy-handed approach to public relations reached a new low when a barney erupted between it and the Port Adelaide Football Club.

The feud began after it was alleged that second-year Port Adelaide player Sam Powell-Pepper had indecently assaulted a woman at a nightclub by touching her backside.

Port Adelaide questioned the AFL’s handling of the incident, which saw Powell-Pepper receive a three-game ban after an investigation by the league’s integrity unit.

Club president and media personality David Koch launched an extraordinary broadside at the AFL on Thursday, suggesting that the league was trying to atone for its executives’ past sex scandals by punishing Powell-Pepper.

Koch’s comments were ridiculous in and of themselves and it might be argued they showed a disregard for the alleged victim.

But they also highlighted the AFL’s lack of discipline, its failure to offer clarity on issues that affect the competition.

It’s time McLachlan and his fellow executives took a step back and reassessed the way they govern the AFL – because interference in every facet of the game is a fool’s errand.

Oh, and give Tasmania a bloody team.