It’s the off-season so we’ve got no new numbers from 2023 to run.
But we felt it important to take a look at the Free Kick Ladder over the past five AFL seasons and see who has been the umpires’ favourites.
We’ve crunched the numbers dating back to and including 2019 for home and away and finals games to come up with the Free Kick Ladder for the last five years.
See the numbers below:
Best differentials
1 - Western Bulldogs (+273)
2 - Collingwood (+202)
3 - Fremantle (+112)
4 - Adelaide (+90)
5 - Brisbane (+83)
Worst differentials
1 - Richmond (-331)
2 - Hawthorn (-143)
3 - GWS Giants (-117)
4 - Sydney (-102)
5 - Gold Coast (-43)
Most frees for
1 - Brisbane (2311)
2 - Collingwood (2174)
3 - Geelong (2157)
4 - Western Bulldogs (2130)
5 - Port Adelaide (2112)
Least frees for
1 - Hawthorn (1843)
2 - Essendon (1938)
3 - Richmond (1940)
4 - Gold Coast (1941)
5 - West Coast (1957)
Most frees against
1 - Richmond (2271)
2 - Brisbane (2228)
3 - Sydney (2199)
4 - Port Adelaide (2150)
5 - Geelong (2144)
Least frees against
1 - Western Bulldogs (1857)
2 - Fremantle (1897)
3 - West Coast (1948)
4 - Essendon (1970)
5 - Collingwood (1972)
The Free Kick Ladder - 2019 to 2023
The Western Bulldogs sit on top of the standings with a differential of +273 stemming from four positive differentials over the last five years (they were -3 this year).
Second on the rankings is Collingwood on +202 ahead of, in third place, Fremantle on +112 as the only three clubs with a 100-plus advantage.
Adelaide (+90) and Brisbane (+83) make up the top five.
At the other end of the table, Richmond is far and away the worst with a parity of -331. Meaning there is a differential of 604 between the Dogs up the top and the Tigers down the bottom.
Some 188 free kicks away in second bottom is Hawthorn on -143, clear of GWS on -117. Sydney (-102) and Gold Coast (-43) make up the bottom five.
Hawthorn has received nearly 100 fewer free kicks than the next lowest team (Essendon).
See the 2019 to 2023 Free Kick Ladder below:
