It seems to be a statistic that most fans look at after a game, especially if your side is on the wrong end of the result.
But the free kick count is an important stat nonetheless, and we've crunched the numbers to find out which sides are getting the rub of the green from the umpires, and which ones just aren't getting lucky at all.
Somewhat surprisingly, the club on the bottom of the ladder are taken care of the most from the men in the middle, with Brisbane recording 172 free kicks over the opening eight rounds, and are just one of three sides to average over 20 frees forย per game with 21.5.
North Melbourne (21.3) and the Western Bulldogs (20.5) are hot on the tail of the Lions, with Port Adelaide (19.9) rounding out the top four.
At the other end of the ledger, Richmond have conceded 19 more free kicks than any other side in the competition, with Geelong (170) and Sydney (169) the next most penalised sides.
When both of these categories are put together, the Dogs' +36 free kick differential is the best among all AFL sides, with the Tigers' differential of -48 the worst.
Free kick differentials from the opening eight rounds of the season
| Frees for | Frees against | Differential | |
| Western Bulldogs | 164 | 127 | +37 |
| North Melbourne | 170 | 143 | +27 |
| Carlton | 148 | 128 | +20 |
| West Coast | 147 | 129 | +18 |
| Melbourne | 153 | 137 | +16 |
| Brisbane | 172 | 160 | +12 |
| Collingwood | 132 | 120 | +12 |
| St Kilda | 143 | 141 | +2 |
| Gold Coast | 139 | 137 | +2 |
| Hawthorn | 138 | 137 | +1 |
| Port Adelaide | 159 | 158 | +1 |
| Essendon | 145 | 146 | -1 |
| Fremantle | 144 | 145 | -1 |
| Geelong | 151 | 170 | -19 |
| Adelaide | 142 | 161 | -19 |
| Sydney | 142 | 169 | -27 |
| GWS | 134 | 167 | -33 |
| Richmond | 141 | 189 | -48 |
