Swans chat Free kick differential over the last 15 years

[Sandridge]

Not sure how accurate these figures are but thought I'd post it anyway. Guess which team is on the bottom!

Free kick differential over the last 15 years : AFL

[longmile]

Wow 2016 is an interesting year with Swans the third worst at -50 and Dogs the best at +112

Additionally I just saw that in the last 10 yrs, 2 Swans are leading in the free kick differential against. Buddy and Grundy.

[neilfws]

Teams and playing styles have changed over those 15 years, so I don't think conclusions based on summing across an arbitrary time period have much merit.

It would be interesting to reexamine the data though. Might be my weekend project

[Blood Fever]

Teams and playing styles have changed over those 15 years, so I don't think conclusions based on summing across an arbitrary time period have much merit.

It would be interesting to reexamine the data though. Might be my weekend project

Please do because they look damning for example comparing us to Eagles. Bulldogs +112 in 2016 is a howler and doesn't help allay any of our fears and suspicions.

[The Big Cat]

I'm not sure that the Swans are unfairly punished for the frees they give away, but I DEFINITELY believe they don't get the ones they are entitled to. The 2016 GF is a case in point. The umps were frothing at the mouth to give anything to the dogs they thought may have been an infringement, yet were reluctant to pay anything to Sydney. Alan Richardson calls it the "power of acclamation". Everyone (except us Swannies) prayed for a doggies flag and the umps were swept up in the emotion.

Greg Denham summed 2016 up prior to last year's GF:

"We are not umpire bashers at The Australian. Not even close. But please, can we all get a perceived fair go tomorrow at the MCG from the men wearing light blue. Field umpires Matt Stevic, Simon Meredith and Shaun Ryan, you owe us one. We?re not saying the Western Bulldogs weren?t deserved winners last year, but they did get the rub of the green.

Overall, the Dogs received 20 free kicks to the Swans? eight. The differential of 12 was the biggest in a grand final since the three-umpire system was introduced in 1994. The AFL review didn?t deem last year?s umpiring performance to be poor, but it was the view of the league that it was beneath the level expected, especially considering the highly-experienced and more than capable trio who officiated ? Stevic, Meredith and Scott Jeffery. The league were embarrassed to the point that then-acting AFL general manager of football operations Mark Evans rang Sydney chief executive Andrew Ireland on the Tuesday after the match to apologise for the umpires costing the Swans four goals. The winning margin blew out late to 22 points after the Bulldogs kicked the final two goals in time on of the final quarter.

Jeffery was umpiring his first grand final after more than 300 games? experience, while Stevic and Meredith were each in their fourth grand finals. Many contentious decisions robbed the Swans, who were hurt by a number of wrong calls, especially on the sliding/contact below the knees rule. Stevic (No 9) retains his gig after 330 games. Meredith (No 21) also keeps his ranking after 314 games. Ryan (No 25) is no newcomer, having previously umpired five grand finals, but none since 2011. Each will earn about $20,000 for their day?s work. Ryan, a barrister, retired at the end of 2011, but returned to the AFL senior list in 2015. He said this week he took some convincing to rejoin from umpires? coach Hayden Kennedy. ?I was pretty happily retired and I hadn?t really thought about coming back to be honest,? Ryan said. Stevic is a teacher, while @Meredith lists his occupation as an IT consultant.

The trio will be under closer than usual scrutiny after last year?s below-par performances."

[Sandridge]

Have never seen that Greg Denham piece before. Thanks for posting, Big Cat!

[stevoswan]

#AFL Round 12 Weekly Discussion Thread

From this article:Umpires' favourites ... and the unloved - AFL.com.au

.....comes this: "IT'S OFFICIAL: Joel Selwood is the umpires' pet and Lance Franklin gets a rough run."

No @@@@ Sherlock????!!!!

[stevoswan]

Here is the damning facts:

.....................Matches played, Frees for, Frees against, Differential


Joel Selwood (Geel) 260 702 330 +372

Lance Franklin (Haw, Syd) 279 363 533 -190

WTF???!!!

Buddy has the worst negative differential..... Guess who has the second worst.....

Heath Grundy (Syd) 248 123 238 -115

It should come as no surprise to us but I'll say again......WTF is going on??!! We are playing in a league run by CHEATS......

[stevoswan]

In addition to the above, I was reading an article in the Hun (I think) showing home ground free kick differentials of all clubs since, I think, the early 2000's but I'll concentrate on the non Victorian teams. Our home ground diff. was +72.....slightly surprising that we were actually positive but of no surprise was the largest positive differential.....West Coast +452. Yes, +452 !!!

The Adelaide based teams also had very healthy positive differentials, Freo positive but not as favoured as WC, Crows and Power. GWS also positive but similar to Freo. Brisbane fair badly for some reason but not as badly as us. We have the lowest positive differential of all the interstate teams.......

......and back to the player free kick differentials, here are the top five end of season differentials since 1999, ie: player most loved by the umpires.

BEST DIFFERENTIAL SEASONS SINCE 1999

Joel Selwood (Geel) 2013 +45 free kicks
Joel Selwood (Geel) 2008 +42
Joel Selwood (Geel) 2017 +40
Angus Monfries (Ess) 2008 +39
Joel Selwood (Geel) 2014 +38

Wow!

Conclusion? AFL umpires have little to no integrity.....just like their employer.

[Hotpotato]

So that?s a 562 differential between two elite players in the comp.
They both are completely aware of all the rules but are judged THAT differently by the umps.
Lance is big and aggressive , but doesn?t do his block or deliberately play dirty .
It?s an astonishing stat. and incredibly difficult to comprehend .

[Industrial Fan]

Buddy does give away a lot of stupid ones.

[liz]

Hawks fans reckon Buddy has had a far better go from the umpires since he donned the red and white than he did at Hawthorn. It's hard to say whether that's true or not, but certainly his worst two season differentials were when he was a young player at Hawthorn. He's probably got smarter and less impetuous as he gets older.

As a general rule, most big forwards don't get protection from umpires when they are held in marking contests (unless their opponent is Heath Grundy, by the looks of things). Often their opponent can completely wrap their arms around them and they still won't get a free. Nick Riewoldt was an exception to the rule, and it seems that Ben Brown is fast becoming one, regardless of what Brad Scott reckons.

Selwood and Buddy aren't a great comparison for other reasons. Selwood attends far more contests and in more congestion as a midfielder, and his height makes him more likely to get high contact frees than any tall forward (even ignoring his penchant for creating that head high contact himself - at least some of his head high frees are genuine infringements by opponents, and he does tend to attack the ball at ground level a lot, even compared to most midfielders).

[S.S. Bleeder]

Oh look. Swans on the bottom of the frees kicks for the last decade and a half, and by a country mile. All my friends, who have been telling me that I'm biased can suck it.

[ugg]

Given that GWS have been in existence for less than half the time period shown in the graphic, double their tally and it?s clear there?s an anti-Sydney conspiracy.

[Blood Fever]

Hawks fans reckon Buddy has had a far better go from the umpires since he donned the red and white than he did at Hawthorn. It's hard to say whether that's true or not, but certainly his worst two season differentials were when he was a young player at Hawthorn. He's probably got smarter and less impetuous as he gets older.

As a general rule, most big forwards don't get protection from umpires when they are held in marking contests (unless their opponent is Heath Grundy, by the looks of things). Often their opponent can completely wrap their arms around them and they still won't get a free. Nick Riewoldt was an exception to the rule, and it seems that Ben Brown is fast becoming one, regardless of what Brad Scott reckons.

Selwood and Buddy aren't a great comparison for other reasons. Selwood attends far more contests and in more congestion as a midfielder, and his height makes him more likely to get high contact frees than any tall forward (even ignoring his penchant for creating that head high contact himself - at least some of his head high frees are genuine infringements by opponents, and he does tend to attack the ball at ground level a lot, even compared to most midfielders).

Big aggressive forwards are treated differently. Think Lockett and Hall who got hardly any. Buddy not quite the same but similar. Hall and Lockett hardly ever went to ground. Buddy is hard to knock over as well.