Richmond ranks last in free kick differential but Jack Riewoldt not getting a bad run this yearChris Cavanagh,
Herald Sun
18 Aug 2018LET’S play a game of MythBusters.
Myth 1: Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt gets a bad run with the umpires. BUSTED.
Myth 2: The Tigers are getting the rough end of the stick in the free kick count this season. CONFIRMED.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick made his frustrations clear last night after his team lost the free kick count against Essendon 27-15 at the MCG and suggested Riewoldt would have got more free kicks if he had a red and black jumper on.
“It’s not the free kicks we give away. The vast majority, the 80 per cent (of those) are there,” Hardwick said.
“It is the one’s you don’t get that I find a little bit frustrating. I look at Jack (Riewoldt) tonight and I thought, ‘You know what? He doesn’t get much’.
“And I look at the other end and think, ‘Hmm, I wish he was playing at the other end’, but it is what it is.”
Riewoldt, who leads the Coleman Medal with 60 goals, gave away three free kicks in the eight-point win and received none in return, but overall this season he has now received the same number of free kicks as he has given away at 25-25.
That stacks up reasonably well against some of the competition’s other leading key forwards in Sydney’s Lance Franklin (24-25), Geelong’s Tom Hawkins (19-33) and Greater Western Sydney’s Jeremy Cameron (20-32).
However, the same can’t be said for a host of teammates with the Tigers dead last on the free kick differential count, having now given away 110 more free kicks than they have received this season.
The startling figure is a 204 difference to Collingwood, who topped the free kick differential table after Round 21 with +94.
North Melbourne (+81) and West Coast (+78) also tend to get a favourable run among the whistle-blowers.
While Riewoldt might get relatively looked after, there are others in yellow and black whom are not.
Ruckman Toby Nankervis leads the competition for free kicks against with 54 from his 20 games, while he has received just 29 in return.
Defender Nick Vlastuin has given away 13 more free kicks than he has received at 12-26, Jacob Townsend is 6-16, Jack Graham is 15-26, Shane Edwards is 8-22, Nathan Broad is 7-13 and David Astbury is 13-20.
It’s not a new phenomenon either, with the Tigers having been -65 in the free kick differential last season, having given away the second most of any team behind Geelong.
But while it might frustrate Hardwick, it doesn’t seem to be having much effect on results.
Richmond will finish this year as minor premiers for the first time in 36 years, their push for back-to-back premierships right on track.
FREE KICK DIFFERENTIAL LADDER BEFORE ROUND 221. Collingwood +94 (463 for, 369 against)
2. North Melbourne +81 (458, 377)
3. West Coast +78 (463, 385)
4. Adelaide +45 (392, 347)
5. Western Bulldogs +38 (429, 391)
6. Brisbane Lions +22 (439, 417)
7. Hawthorn +14 (424, 410)
8. Carlton +10 (442, 432)
9. Geelong 0 (428, 428)
10. Melbourne -10 (414, 424)
11. Port Adelaide -14 (418, 432)
12. Gold Coast -37 (417, 454)
13. Fremantle -38 (389, 427)
14. Essendon -43 (376, 419)
15. Sydney -46 (400, 446)
16. GWS -48 (386, 434)
17. St Kilda -49 (379, 428)
18. Richmond -98 (361, 459)
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/richmond-ranks-last-in-free-kick-differential-but-jack-riewoldt-not-getting-a-bad-run-this-year/news-story/dbf8817fe3e93f55ac8afb35fb902239