AFL free kick differential ladder: No wonder Essendon is complaining

Mick Stirling

AFL free kick differential ladder: No wonder Essendon is complaining image

Essendon has approached the AFL and its umpiring department regarding the lopsided free kick numbers against the club in its game against Collingwood last Sunday.

The Magpies were awarded 26 frees to the Bombers 17 in a display that had Essendon fans screaming for the umpires’ blood from the early stages.

A week earlier the Bombers were on the wrong side of the ledger again with an 11-21 count against North Melbourne.

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"There's a level of concern around and we would like to get to the bottom of it if we can,” Essendon football manager Dan Richardson told the Herald Sun on Monday evening.

"I've had a couple of discussions with (Steve Hocking, AFL head of football) personally and 'Woosha' has had some contact with Hayden (Kennedy, head of umpiring) as well.

"There may well be something wrong with how we're coaching our players.

"Is there issues with our approach technically, or are there examples of where the umpires are getting it wrong?

"We're not suggesting that umpiring is the reason why we win or lose, you just want clarification on consistency.”



Essendon is the second worst club in the league for free kick differential with 274 frees coming their way compared to 331 against the Bombers.

Collingwood is the most favoured club in the league (351 for, 275 against) and North Melbourne the second best.

Free kick differential ladder *

Rank Team F A Differential
1st Collingwood 351 275 +76
2nd North Melbourne 360 293 +67
3rd West Coast 344 282 +62
4th Western Bulldogs 326 289 +37
5th Brisbane 349 316 +33
6th Adelaide 300 268 +32
7th Hawthorn 334 319 +15
8th Melbourne 331 328 +3
9th Carlton 333 333 0
10th Port Adelaide 330 337 -7
11th Geelong 324 334 -10
12th Sydney 314 331 -17
13th Fremantle 286 315 -29
14th Gold Coast 324 354 -30
15th St Kilda 283 332 -49
16th GWS 286 340 -54
17th Essendon 274 331 -57
18th Richmond 282 354 -72

* Composed by Triple M

Mick Stirling