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We see a lot of complaints about the umpires, but not much analysis of who the beneficiaries (and victims) of their decisions are- except for the obvious cases like Hird and BBBH. And yet (as both Cresswell and Ball know too well) a well-timed free kick can decide a game.
A quick look at the stats on:
and
reveals that the biggest asset to the team in terms of free kicks is...
Jude Bolton!
You could write off a +15 differential (frees plucked minus those given away) this year as merely good luck if it didn't come off the back of a +21 differential in 2003. And in general, while some players are up & down, the trend that some players tend to give 'em away, and some players tend to get 'em, is clear.
I'll throw open to the group why that might be.
My first reaction was to say that Jude does so well 'cos he's a hard-at-it player who puts his body on the line and whose first instinct is to go the ball, not the man. But my first reaction was wrong. Kirk answers that description as well, and he's evens this year off the back of -1 last year. Jude's doing even better than the famously protected $20,000 man Hird (+11 2004, +13 2003)!
Our second best is Willo with +7 this year and +13 last, and Jared Crouch has an excellent record for a tagger at +8 and +1. BBBH's lousy record is the stuff of myth and legend, but the surprise was how many Adam Goodes costs us: -5 last year, -6 in his Brownlow year and an unbelievable -21 in 2002! Paul Bevan has also developed an unfortunate record this year (-12): a clear indication that being hard-at-it doesn't necessarily do you favours.
The Umpires Association might have a more scientific reason, but could I evilly suggest that Jude does so well because he's a bit of a looker and he's reasonably well known?
A quick look at the stats on:
and
reveals that the biggest asset to the team in terms of free kicks is...
Jude Bolton!
You could write off a +15 differential (frees plucked minus those given away) this year as merely good luck if it didn't come off the back of a +21 differential in 2003. And in general, while some players are up & down, the trend that some players tend to give 'em away, and some players tend to get 'em, is clear.
I'll throw open to the group why that might be.
My first reaction was to say that Jude does so well 'cos he's a hard-at-it player who puts his body on the line and whose first instinct is to go the ball, not the man. But my first reaction was wrong. Kirk answers that description as well, and he's evens this year off the back of -1 last year. Jude's doing even better than the famously protected $20,000 man Hird (+11 2004, +13 2003)!
Our second best is Willo with +7 this year and +13 last, and Jared Crouch has an excellent record for a tagger at +8 and +1. BBBH's lousy record is the stuff of myth and legend, but the surprise was how many Adam Goodes costs us: -5 last year, -6 in his Brownlow year and an unbelievable -21 in 2002! Paul Bevan has also developed an unfortunate record this year (-12): a clear indication that being hard-at-it doesn't necessarily do you favours.
The Umpires Association might have a more scientific reason, but could I evilly suggest that Jude does so well because he's a bit of a looker and he's reasonably well known?
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