Player Rater

12th August 2011 Category: Statistical Analysis

Image: Slattery Media Group

The term "staging" is a blanket term that can be interpreted in a number of different ways. In this article the term "staging" is used to cover everything from feigning injury to accentuating or manipulating contact.

Earlier in the year, Angus Monfries caused a stir when he admitted to playing for free-kicks. At the time Rodney Eade said: "He's the best out of the competition [at staging for free kicks].”

But who else is up there? Who are the best stagers in the AFL? In an attempt to find the answer, we’ve taken a look at the top 40 free kick winners in the competition.

The first thing you notice when looking at the top 40 is that it’s dominated by ruckmen. 4 of the top 10 spots are occupied by ruckmen - Dean Brogan (1), Todd Goldstein (5), Mark Jamar (7), Dean Cox (8).

For the sake of this study we’ve omitted ruckmen. Ruck contests lead to an unnatural number of free kicks, which gives ruckmen more opportunity than other players to win free kicks. Players that have played less than 10 games this season have also been omitted.

There are certain players that are expected to receive free kicks. Players that get themselves to a lot of contests (the likes of Andrew Swallow, Gary Ablett, Matt Priddis) and players that regularly put their head other the ball (Jude Bolton, Luke Ball and Jordie McKenzie).

All of the players mentioned above are in the top 40. The consistent statistics with all of them (apart from free kicks) is that they all average a high number of possessions (20 plus per game) and a high number of tackles (5 plus per game).

So to get an idea of who (statistically) draws the most free kicks - with the least amount of opportunity - we’ve divided (in the table below) each players average number of free-kicks-for per game with their average possessions per-game and their average tackles per-game. 

The equation: Average Free-Kicks-For Per Game  --DIVIDED BY-- (Average Possessions Per Game + Average Tackles Per Game).

The theory behind the equation is:

• The more a player has the ball, the more opportunity they have to win free kicks - meaning they don't necessarily "stage" for them.
• The more a player tackles, the more likely it is that that player wins free kicks - as opposed to "staging" for them.

We're trying to find the player that draws the most free kicks with the least number of opportunities. 

• Honest players that are subject to a lot of physical attention - Tippett, Brown, Petrie and Dawes.
• Small players that are likely the victims of bad tackles and are seen to be honest players - Bartram, Christensen.
• Elite tacklers that "win" a lot of free-kicks - Thomas and Swallow.

Taking into account the table and considering the visual evidence from week to week, the top 5 stagers in the AFL are:

Patrick Dangerfield: Instead of standing up in tackles, Dangerfield lets his body go in order to accentuate contact.

Adam Selwood: If you do an image search on Selwood, you'll see a lot of images of him throwing his head back while being tackled.

Scott Thompson: Takes a different approach to winning free-kicks to the rest of the list. Thompson annoys his opponents until they snap, then makes sure that the contact can be seen.

Angus Monfries: Often wins soft free kicks by falling forward in tackles and in marking contests.