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The AFL Free Kick Ladder - Round 21
Andrew Slevison • August 4th, 2026 5:45 pm
It’s a good week to bring you the Free Kick Ladder.
Not that free kick counts need to be even, but when there’s a lopsided count with a differential of 17 then it’s probably a good time to take a look at the numbers.
Collingwood received 24 frees on Thursday night. Geelong received just seven.
The difference of 17 is the biggest discrepancy for the 2026 season which was previously 16 from the West Coast (26) v GWS (10) game in Round 10. (More on the poor Giants later).
It was all academic as the Cats got up by 25 points, but it’s worth noting.
So what did those numbers do to the Free Kick Ladder? Let’s take a look.
See the latest numbers below:
Best differentials
1 - St Kilda (+38)2 - Sydney (+33)3 - Adelaide (+23)4 - Geelong (+17)5 - Port Adelaide (+13)
Worst differentials
1 - GWS Giants (-96)2 - Gold Coast (-48)3 - West Coast (-18)4 - North Melbourne (-9)5 - Carlton (-8)
Most frees for
1 - Sydney (428)2 - Adelaide (418)3 - North Melbourne (407)4 - West Coast (401)5 - Port Adelaide (394)
Least frees for
1 - GWS Giants (325)2 - Collingwood (342)3 - Brisbane (346)4 - Melbourne (348)Eq.5 - Fremantle & Geelong (374)
Most frees against
1 - Gold Coast (425)2 - GWS Giants (421)3 - West Coast (419)4 - North Melbourne (416)5 - Carlton (396)
Least frees against
1 - Collingwood (330)2 - Melbourne (340)3 - St Kilda (347)4 - Brisbane (352)5 - Geelong (357)
The 2026 Free Kick Ladder - Round 21
St Kilda (+38) have been around top spot for much of the season and have kept that position in this edition.
The Saints have received 385 frees, which sits bang in the middle, but have given away the third fewest with 347.
Sitting second is Sydney (+33) who have had the most frees in their favour with 428. Third is Adelaide (+23) courtesy of the second most frees for with 418.
Geelong (+17), in fourth, had been second but their misfortune last Thursday night saw their numbers drop dramatically. Port Adelaide (+13) makes up the top five.
At the foot, there are some alarming numbers.
The noise of affirmation does not ring true for the Giants (-96) who have been on the positive end of free kick counts in just three of 20 matches.
Their home free kick record is not friendly at all. In nine games (including two in Canberra), the Giants are -43, and have not win a free kick count on home soil.
Do we call it the silence of denial? Just spitballing here. We'll roll with that for now.
All the way back in second is Gold Coast (-48) who have given away the most frees with 425.
Third bottom is West Coast (-18) behind North Melbourne (-9) and Carlton (-8).
At the midway point, six of the top seven teams were Victorian, and six of the bottom seven were interstate teams. Now three of the top five are interstate, but the bottom three remain clubs from outside of Victoria.
See the FK Ladder after Round 21 below:
