The players with the best disposal efficiency in the AFL

Who are the best ball users in the competition?

The players who frequently hit targets, are tidy by both hand and foot, and those who make the least skill errors.

In this day and age, it’s quite normal to see defenders high on these types of lists, such is the way the ball is moved deliberately and precisely out of the back line.

Keeping the ball is a constant theme in modern footy, so shorter and more careful kicking in a bid to retain possession has become more of a focus.

Taking a look at the best kicks percentage-wise, it’s quite obvious that defenders with more time on their hands to hit targets reign supreme, whereas midfielders and forwards with less leeway for mistakes are well down the rankings.

Despite missing the past three games, Fremantle’s reigning best and fairest Luke Ryan leads the way with a kicking efficiency of better than 88%, having just fallen in over the 80 effective kicks threshold we have set.

St Kilda pair Callum Wilkie and Douglas Howard - both defenders - are both over 86%, along with Geelong backman Lachie Henderson.

Of those with high kick efficiency, North Melbourne captain Jack Ziebell is the most prolific having pulled off 175 effective kicks. Much of that has to do with the fact he plays on from kick-ins in his new role across half-back.

The non-defenders on the list of 30 are Gold Coast wingman Brandon Ellis (79.4%) and Cats midfielder Mitch Duncan (75.8%).

See the list of the AFL’s most efficient kicks below:

Best kicking efficiency

(Minimum 80 effective kicks to be eligible)

PLAYER	CLUB	TOTAL KICKS	EFF. KICKS	EFFICIENCY
Luke Ryan	FRE	95	84	88.4
Callum Wilkie	STK	105	91	86.7
Dougal Howard	STK	126	109	86.5
Lachie Henderson	GEE	94	81	86.2
Taylor Duryea	WB	110	94	85.5
Jack Ziebell	NM	205	175	85.4
Aliir Aliir	PA	104	88	84.6
Josh Rotham	WCE	116	98	84.5
Jordan Ridley	ESS	132	111	84.1
Jake Lloyd	SYD	165	137	83
Tom Stewart	GEE	170	141	82.9
Tom Jonas	PA	100	82	82
Caleb Daniel	WB	108	88	81.5
Isaac Cumming	GWS	138	112	81.2
Sam Docherty	CAR	174	140	80.5
Steven May	MEL	122	98	80.3
Changkuoth Jiath	HAW	105	84	80
Brandon Ellis	GCS	160	127	79.4
Brad Sheppard	WCE	110	87	79.1
Grant Birchall	BRI	130	102	78.5
Blake Hardwick	HAW	149	116	77.9
Jack Bowes	GCS	175	136	77.7
Brayden Maynard	COL	130	101	77.7
Daniel Rich	BRI	204	158	77.5
Ryan Burton	PA	113	87	77
John Noble	COL	115	88	76.5
Jordan Dawson	SYD	140	107	76.4
Jayden Short	RIC	171	130	76
Lachlan Ash	GWS	132	100	75.8
Mitch Duncan	GEE	128	97	75.8

Looking at the overall disposal efficiency, there is a similar theme in that defenders are statistically the most accomplished when in possession.

Collingwood’s Chris Mayne, who has pushed from the wing to defence recently, sits on top of the standings with an overall disposal efficiency of 91.9%.

Dockers defender Brennan Cox is the only other player with an effective 80-disposal minimum that ranks over 91% and he is closely followed by teammate Ryan, who features again.

Once again, the defender is king for effective disposals.

See the list of the overall disposal efficiency below:

Best disposal efficiency

(Minimum 80 effective disposals to be eligible)

PLAYER	CLUB	DISPOSALS	EFF. DISP	EFFICIENCY
Chris Mayne	COL	123	113	91.9
Brennan Cox	FRE	105	96	91.4
Luke Ryan	FRE	128	114	89.1
Callum Wilkie	STK	141	125	88.7
Ben McKay	NM	94	83	88.3
Jake Kelly	ADE	127	111	87.4
Harris Andrews	BRI	139	121	87.1
Darcy Moore	COL	139	121	87.1
Josh Rotham	WCE	149	129	86.6
Aliir Aliir	PA	148	128	86.5
Jeremy McGovern	WCE	118	102	86.4
Jordan Ridley	ESS	184	159	86.4
Dougal Howard	STK	146	126	86.3
Tom Barrass	WCE	102	88	86.3
Alex Keath	WB	138	119	86.2
Taylor Duryea	WB	167	144	86.2
Patrick Lipinski	WB	121	104	86
Lachie Henderson	GEE	142	122	85.9
Jack Henry	GEE	118	101	85.6
Jake Lloyd	SYD	248	212	85.5
Charlie Ballard	GCS	117	100	85.5
Caleb Daniel	WB	193	164	85
Connor Idun	GWS	106	90	84.9
Dane Rampe	SYD	104	88	84.6
Nick Coffield	STK	123	104	84.6
Tom Stewart	GEE	224	189	84.4
David Astbury	RIC	122	103	84.4
Jordon Butts	ADE	101	85	84.2
Jack Ziebell	NM	252	212	84.1
Kyle Hartigan	HAW	105	88	83.8
Noah Balta	RIC	105	88	83.8

In summary, bringing the ball from the back half of the ground appears the best place to be if you want a fairly unblemished efficiency record.

Midfielders generally must kick and dispose of the ball under increased pressure while forwards are required to take a few more risks, subsequently hurting their effective disposal rate.

Stats obtained from AFL Stats Pro.

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