Umpire's pets, Most goals from free kicks

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Mar 2, 2015
19,090
34,348
AFL Club
Hawthorn


Goals from free kicks (Rounds 1-14)

33 Western Bulldogs

27 Port Adelaide, North Melbourne
26 Carlton

24 Adelaide

21 Essendon, West Coast, Brisbane
20 St Kilda, Fremantle
19 Geelong, Sydney, GWS Giants

16 Collingwood, Melbourne
15 Goal Coast

12 Richmond
11 Hawthorn.....#freekickhawthorn




Interesting to see the teams who are 14th, 17th and 18th on the ladder have kicked so many goals from free kicks.



Differential of goals from free kicks (for/against)

+13 Carlton........ 26-13
+10 W Bulldogs... 33-23
+10 Essendon..... 21-11
+4 Port Adelaide.. 27-23
+4 Adelaide........ 24-20
+3 Fremantle...... 20-17
+2 St Kilda......... 20-18
.-1 GWS Giants.... 19-20
.-2 Brisbane........ 21-23
.-2 Geelong..........19-21
.-2 Collingwood.... 16-18
.-3 West Coast..... 21-24
.-4 Richmond....... 12-16
.-5 North Melb...... 27-32
.-5 Sydney........... 19-24
.-6 Melbourne...... 16-22
.-6 Gold Coast..... 15-21
-10 Hawthorn...... 11-21.....#freekickhawthorn
 
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Pretty much a given that the Western Bulldogs would be high on the charts.

I was mainly interested to see North, Carlton and the Eagles with so many goals from frees. Especially considering their abysmal form in 2023
you can get as many goals as you want from free kicks, but if you can't convert from others then it's a stat that makes little difference
 

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North? “So many goals from frees”…? Huh?
Yeah. North have 27 goals from free kicks. That places them equal 2nd for most goals from frees.
VERY surprising to see the 2 worst teams (and struggling Carlton) so high on the list.


Here's the same data but expressed as a percentage of goals for/against.


Pct. of 'goals for' from free kicks

20.8% W.Bulldogs..... (33 of 159)
18.6% West Coast..... (21 of 113)
18.5% North Melb..... (27 of 146)
17.6% Carlton.......... (26 of 148)
13.8% Port Adelaide.. (27 of 195)
13.2% Adelaide........ (24 of 182)
13.1% St Kilda......... (20 of 153)
12.9% Fremantle...... (20 of 155)
12.3% Essendon....... (21 of 171)
12.0% Sydney.......... (19 of 158)
11.5% Brisbane........ (21 of 182)
11.0% GWS Giants.... (19 of 173)
10.2% Geelong......... (19 of 187)
_9.9% Gold Coast..... (15 of 151)
_9.1% Collingwood.... (16 of 175)
_8.7% Melbourne...... (16 of 183)
_8.0% Hawthorn....... (11 of 138)
_7.4% Richmond....... (12 of 163)



Pct. of 'goals against' from free kicks

_7.3% Essendon......... (11 of 150)
_8.4% Carlton............ (13 of 155)
10.2% Richmond........ (16 of 157)
10.4% Fremantle........ (17 of 163)
10.4% West Coast...... (24 of 230)
11.4% GWS Giants..... (20 of 175)
11.5% Hawthorn........ (21 of 182)
12.9% Geelong.......... (21 of 163)
13.0% Gold Coast....... (21 of 161)
13.2% Adelaide.......... (20 of 152)
13.6% Port Adelaide... (23 of 169)
13.8% St Kilda........... (18 of 130)
14.5% W.Bulldogs....... (23 of 159)
14.6% Collingwood..... (18 of 123)
14.7% Sydney............ (24 of 163)
14.9% Brisbane.......... (23 of 154)
15.2% North Melb....... (32 of 211)
16.3% Melbourne........ (22 of 135)
 
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Not enough Carlton in this thread. Or are they too busy celebrating one win?
The umpires have clearly been looking after Carlton at both ends of the ground.

The Blues rank no.1 in "goals from free kick" differential.
  • 4th highest percentage of their goals have been from frees... WB, WCE, NM, Carl are the outliers.
  • 2nd lowest percentage of goals conceded have been from frees... Ess, Carl are the outliers.

Could this umpire favouritism be at the behest of Channel 7 to boost their flagging tv ratings?
 
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Yeah. North have 27 goals from free kicks. That places them equal 2nd for most goals from frees.
VERY surprising to see the 2 worst teams (and struggling Carlton) so high on the list.


Here's the same data but expressed as a percentage of goals for/against.


Pct. of 'goals for' from free kicks

20.8% W.Bulldogs..... (33 of 159)
18.6% West Coast..... (21 of 113)
18.5% North Melb..... (27 of 146)
17.6% Carlton.......... (26 of 148)
13.8% Port Adelaide.. (27 of 195)
13.2% Adelaide........ (24 of 182)
13.1% St Kilda......... (20 of 153)
12.9% Fremantle...... (20 of 155)
12.3% Essendon....... (21 of 171)
12.0% Sydney.......... (19 of 158)
11.5% Brisbane........ (21 of 182)
11.0% GWS Giants.... (19 of 173)
10.2% Geelong......... (19 of 187)
_9.9% Gold Coast..... (15 of 151)
_9.1% Collingwood.... (16 of 175)
_8.7% Melbourne...... (16 of 183)
_8.0% Hawthorn....... (11 of 138)
_7.4% Richmond....... (12 of 163)



Pct. of 'goals against' from free kicks

_7.3% Essendon......... (11 of 150)
_8.4% Carlton............ (13 of 155)
10.2% Richmond........ (16 of 157)
10.4% Fremantle........ (17 of 163)
10.4% West Coast...... (24 of 230)
11.4% GWS Giants..... (20 of 175)
11.5% Hawthorn........ (21 of 182)
12.9% Geelong.......... (21 of 163)
13.0% Gold Coast....... (21 of 161)
13.2% Adelaide.......... (20 of 152)
13.6% Port Adelaide... (23 of 169)
13.8% St Kilda........... (18 of 130)
14.5% W.Bulldogs....... (23 of 159)
14.6% Collingwood..... (18 of 123)
14.7% Sydney............ (24 of 163)
14.9% Brisbane.......... (23 of 154)
15.2% North Melb....... (32 of 211)
16.3% Melbourne........ (22 of 135)
The Adelaide and Pt Adelaide ones make sense. They’re total goals for are well beyond the cohort around them - which to me suggests that defenders get antsy because of their scoring power. Not sure of the rationale for the others.
 
Goals from free kicks should only be worth 3 points. More than half of them are tiggy touch wood frees that are hardly earnt.
So if there's seconds left in a game and you're up by 5 points with the ball deep in the opposition's forward line you just give away a professional free kick and back yourself in to lock it down at the next centre bounce?

Shocking idea.
 
Pretty much a given that the Western Bulldogs would be high on the charts.

I was mainly interested to see North, Carlton and the Eagles with so many goals from frees. Especially considering their abysmal form in 2023
Yeah it's almost like there's no correlation between free kicks and winning games. ******* weird.
 

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