The AFL’s serial free kick winners and losers

Yep, you guessed it. It’s Joel Selwood.

Published by
Stephen Marson

It probably won't take too many AFL fans a heap of guesses, as Geelong's Joel Selwood is officially the most favoured player by the umpires over the course of his career.

Thanks to the help of Champion Data, AFL.com.au looked at which players have the greatest free kick differentials over their careers.

Players with the best and worst numbers were revealed, as the Cats skipper has received 702 free kicks in his 260 matches, while only giving away 330.

That sees him with a differential of +372, exactly 100 in front of Carlton's Marc Murphy in second place.

Not only that, but since Champion Data begun in 1999, Selwood has four of the top five best differential seasons, with his 2013 campaign seeing him pick up a record 45 more free kicks than he gave away.

Selwood averages 2.7 free kicks for per game over his career.

Club captains Scott Pendlebury and Trent Cotchin round out the top four, while Patrick Dangerfield - the 2016 Brownlow Medalist - is in fifth.

Best free kick +/-

  1. Joel Selwood (Geelong) +372
  2. Marc Murphy (Carlton) +272
  3. Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood) +206
  4. Trent Cotchin (Richmond) +155
  5. Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong) +135

When looking at the worst, superstar forward Lance Franklin seems to get a rough run from the whistleblowers, giving up 190 more free kicks than he receives.

Over the course of his 279-game career, Franklin has been called for 533 free kicks, at an average of 1.91.

Teammate Heath Grundy is the only other play to have a differential over 100 in his career (-115).

Dustin Martin, Ben Cunnington and Jackson Trengove round out the top five offenders.

Worst free kick +/-

  1. Lance Franklin (Hawthorn/Sydney) -190
  2. Heath Grundy (Sydney) - 115
  3. Dustin Martin (Richmond) - 92
  4. Ben Cunnington (North Melbourne) -90
  5. Jackson Trengove (Port Adelaide/Western Bulldogs) -87
Published by
Stephen Marson