The 2026 AFL Free Kick Ladder - Round 4

New rules, new interpretations, but the same frustrations.

That’s just the way it will always be when it comes to the officiating of the game.

But which teams in 2026 are having more luck and less frustration than the others?

Now that all 18 teams have finally played four games each - the byproduct of a frustrating fixture - we feel it’s the perfect time to roll out the Free Kick Ladder.

And it appears there’s a fair bit of #VicBias going on with Victorian clubs making up the top eight and interstate clubs in the bottom five.

See the latest numbers below:

Best differentials

1 - Geelong (+44)
2 - St Kilda (+23)
3 - Western Bulldogs (+18)
4 - Richmond (+10)
5 - Essendon (+8)

Worst differentials

1 - GWS Giants (-23)
2 - Gold Coast (-18)
3 - West Coast (-14)
4 - Port Adelaide (-12)
5 - Adelaide (-11)

Most frees for

1 - Geelong (102)
2 - North Melbourne (95)
Eq.3 - St Kilda & Western Bulldogs (87)
5 - Richmond (84)

Least frees for

1 - GWS Giants (58)
2 - Melbourne (60)
3 - Collingwood (63)
4 - Adelaide (67)
5 - Gold Coast (68)

Most frees against

Eq.1 - North Melbourne & West Coast (93)
Eq.3 - Sydney & Gold Coast (86)
5 - Port Adelaide (83)

Least frees against

1 - Geelong (58)
2 - Melbourne (59)
3 - St Kilda (64)
4 - Western Bulldogs (69)
5 - Collingwood (71)

The 2026 Free Kick Ladder - Round 4

Geelong (+44) has had four games with free kick differentials of +9 or more to comfortably sit on top of the standings.

The Cats have received 102 frees and given away only 58.

St Kilda (+23) sit second but are +21 behind the Cats, while the Western Bulldogs (+18) are third just clear of Richmond (+10) who have often been at the other end of the FK Ladder.

As mentioned earlier, Vic teams make up the top eight with Essendon (+8), Hawthorn (+3), North Melbourne (+2) and Melbourne (+1) all with positive differentials.

Down the bottom is poor old GWS (-23) who finished second bottom last year. It's back to regular programming for a Dimma-coached team with Gold Coast (-18) second last, then West Coast (-14) third bottom after finishing last year in 15th on the FK Ladder

SA pair Port Adelaide (-12) and Adelaide (-11) make up the bottom five.

The eight interstate clubs all have negative differentials.

Make of that what you will.

Brisbane (-3), Sydney (-6), Carlton (-6), Fremantle (-8) and Collingwood (-8) make up the middle table but all have differentials in the red.

See the FK Ladder after Round 4 below: