West Coast has won 524 more free kicks than its opposition....... | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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West Coast has won 524 more free kicks than its opposition.......

what amazes me is that a reporter thought this was news worthy. Any football supporter who has watched their games would know they almost always win the free kick count at home. After all if the umpire had been doing his job in our game against them last year Vickery would have won a free kick for the blatant elbow to the sternum from dean cox. No free kickwas paid and we all know what happened next.

If as a club we had the balls to defend our players (say like Collingwood do to their credit) we would have sent a letter to the AF:L (which we leak to the media) asking if the move by Cox was legal and if so could we start teaching it as a tactic to our developing Ruckman. This would have put pressure on the AFL and IMHO would have lead to a shorter sanction for TV.
 
...but they still boo ( pantomine style) even if an oppo player is decapitated, whcih shows me the mentality of the average wa fan ( less educated than those who support the swans in Sydney)
 
Only saw part of the game today at the Eagles seemed to get the best of the 50/50 decisions. Won the free count 21 to 14
 
Its not just how many the Eagles get, its how the rest of us do. Turns out Port are almost as bad.

But its not a Perth Adelaide thing because Freo and the Crows are net losers as well.

Surely the AFL can see such a discrepancy over 10 years is a problem. 10 years in which the West Coast have changed out their players, their coach, their game plan, finished premiers, finished wooden spoon but year in year out get a massive free kick from the umpires (to coin a phrase)

 
On a different note, while many like to label West Coast as duckers I think there's an underlying lesson in what they're doing.

Know the rules.

And it's not all about winning more frees, but giving less away (controllable and coachable)

Play smart and know the rules.
 
10 years? Decent sample. that's some pretty sustained knowledge of the rules and fine-tuned coaching.
 
Can we generate same chart for just home games then send it to the footy shows? Exceedingly unfair.
 
RoarMeter said:
Can we generate same chart for just home games then send it to the footy shows? Exceedingly unfair.
Click to expand...

That implies the effect is entirely due to umpires being influenced by the crowd. Freo and Adelaide don't receive such an advantage, so it's more likely that they know the rules better than the opposition, which would be a pretty silent advantage otherwise.

Carlton's Mitch Robinson goes 3rd man up and taps the ball through for a rushed behind... this doesn't happen at West Coast. Knowing the rules is probably a big thing in their culture. How many players know every technicality surrounding the holding the ball? When to hold on and force a ball up. When to let the ball conveniently spill forward. If you know the rules perfectly, you can push those boundaries.
 
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