Here we are, at the end of the year, and fans of all clubs (well, except maybe Footscray) are complaining about the umpiring. But what are the facts?
Well, it is certainly clear to me that either every team suddenly turns into a pack of angels who would never ever contemplate transgressing any rule of our great game when they play Richmond, or we are being umpired differently (I will add that I reckon StKilda have some claim to this issue too).
Here's a rundown of the free kicks for and against for all teams for the H&A games in 2021:
Team | Games | Frees For | Ave per game | Frees Against | Ave per game |
Adelaide | 22 | 465 | 21.14 | 449 | 20.41 |
Brisbane | 22 | 448 | 20.36 | 454 | 20.64 |
Carlton | 22 | 447 | 20.32 | 427 | 19.41 |
Collingwood | 22 | 389 | 17.68 | 405 | 18.41 |
Essendon | 22 | 405 | 18.41 | 416 | 18.91 |
Fremantle | 22 | 394 | 17.91 | 407 | 18.50 |
Geelong | 22 | 435 | 19.77 | 404 | 18.36 |
Gold Coast | 22 | 406 | 18.45 | 422 | 19.18 |
GW Sydney | 22 | 433 | 19.68 | 405 | 18.41 |
Hawthorn | 22 | 406 | 18.45 | 408 | 18.55 |
Melbourne | 22 | 425 | 19.32 | 440 | 20.00 |
North Melbourne | 22 | 431 | 19.59 | 411 | 18.68 |
Port Adelaide | 22 | 446 | 20.27 | 429 | 19.50 |
Richmond | 22 | 376 | 17.09 | 461 | 20.95 |
StKilda | 22 | 401 | 18.23 | 433 | 19.68 |
Sydney | 22 | 432 | 19.64 | 444 | 20.18 |
West Coast | 22 | 393 | 17.86 | 381 | 17.32 |
Western Bulldogs | 22 | 437 | 19.86 | 365 | 16.59 |
That's right, we have the lowest number of frees for and the highest number of frees against. You could argue that frees against is within our control, although I have doubts, but, if that is the case then frees against must be in the control of our opponents - and they magically concede less when they play Richmond.
It is even more stark when you look at the differential for all teams:
View attachment 13157
Most teams, as you would expect, are close to even on the differential, with only a couple of outliers.
I fail to see what Footscray do which puts them almost 2 free kicks ahead of any other team.
As for Richmond, this really is a bit of a joke. Maybe some of our players give away more frees - but haven't we had players in and out of the team all year? We have a 2.4 free kick differential worse than any other team. Can we seriously say that Richmond are that different to everyone else? That is a stretch.
I'm not saying there is conscious bias, I reckon it is more likely unconscious. But it also reeks of a standard of umpiring which is unacceptable at the highest level of our game.
DS