Demonland

The Casey Demons returned to their home ground which was once a graveyard for opposing teams but they managed to gift the four points on offer to Coburg with yet another of their trademark displays of inaccuracy in front of goals and some undisciplined football that earned the displeasure of the umpires late in the game. The home team was welcomed by a small crowd at Casey Fields and looked right at home as it dominated the first three quarters and led for all bar the last five minutes of the game. In the end, they came away with nothing, despite winning everywhere but on the scoreboard and the free kick count. The Demons dominated in the ruck through Tom Campbell who finished with a massive 40 hit outs and his understudy Will Verrall was next with 10. They gave their team a great run at the football in the early proceedings and virtually whitewashed Coburg in the first half. I appreciate the old saying about “would have, could have etc” but the half time lead should have been 50 points and not 20 so badly did they butcher some of their shots on goal. Their only reliable player in front of goals was Mitch Hardie who kicked three in the first half and had four of the team’s 5 goals 16 at the final break. There’s another saying that “bad kicking is bad football” and that applied to the remaining 22 in the side. It all came home to roost in the third term when the visitors found their feet and started to reel in a 27 point deficit from about ten minutes into the second half. The Lions were insipid up to that point in the game but the Demons had opened the door for them and, as often happens, they rallied to boot four unanswered goals and by the final break were only three points in arrears. The final quarter saw a seesaw battle in which the Demons discovered their kicking boots for four goals with two coming from strong play from young key forward Luker Kentfield who had been one of the culprits in the first half with four behinds. When he clunked a mark and converted to give Casey a 9 point lead at the 25 minute mark the game appeared safe but the gods were smiling on the Lions who took the advantage of the umpiring and showed why an accurate shot on goal which is worth six times a lesser effort can be of supreme importance in our game. Riley Bonner and the goal kicking Hardie were again impressive for the Demons and veteran defender Tom McDonald joined another veteran in Campbell among his team’s best. Apart from Kentfield, there was little for Demon fans to enthuse about in such a disappointing result. CASEY DEMONS 2.6.18 4.11.35 5.16.46 9.17.71 COBURG 1.1.7 2.3.15 6.7.43 11.8.74 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Hardie 4 Kentfield 2 Baldi Cross Fullarton COBURG Johnston Weightman 3 Andrew D'Intinosante Podhajski Thompson Trudgeon BEST CASEY DEMONS Campbell Bonner Hardie McDonald Woewodin Kentfield COBURG Trudgeon Toohey D’Intinosante Kennedy Gillard Bella

OLD SAYINGS by KC from Casey The Casey Demons returned to their home ground which was once a graveyard for opposing teams but they managed to gift the four points on offer to Coburg with yet another of their trademark displays of inaccuracy in front of goals and some undisciplined football that earned the displeasure of the umpires late in the game. The home team was welcomed by a small crowd at Casey Fields and looked right at home as it dominated the first three quarters and led for all bar the last five minutes of the game. In the end, they came away with nothing, despite winning everywhere but on the scoreboard and the free kick count. The Demons dominated in the ruck through Tom Campbell who finished with a massive 40 hit outs and his understudy Will Verrall was next with 10. They gave their team a great run at the football in the early proceedings and virtually whitewashed Coburg in the first half. I appreciate the old saying about “would have, could have etc” but the half time lead should have been 50 points and not 20 so badly did they butcher some of their shots on goal. Their only reliable player in front of goals was Mitch Hardie who kicked three in the first half and had four of the team’s 5 goals 16 at the final break. There’s another saying that “bad kicking is bad football” and that applied to the remaining 22 in the side. It all came home to roost in the third term when the visitors found their feet and started to reel in a 27 point deficit from about ten minutes into the second half. The Lions were insipid up to that point in the game but the Demons had opened the door for them and, as often happens, they rallied to boot four unanswered goals and by the final break were only three points in arrears. The final quarter saw a seesaw battle in which the Demons discovered their kicking boots for four goals with two coming from strong play from young key forward Luker Kentfield who had been one of the culprits in the first half with four behinds. When he clunked a mark and converted to give Casey a 9 point lead at the 25 minute mark the game appeared safe but the gods were smiling on the Lions who took the advantage of the umpiring and showed why an accurate shot on goal which is worth six times a lesser effort can be of supreme importance in our game. Riley Bonner and the goal kicking Hardie were again impressive for the Demons and veteran defender Tom McDonald joined another veteran in Campbell among his team’s best. Apart from Kentfield, there was little for Demon fans to enthuse about in such a disappointing result. CASEY DEMONS 2.6.18 4.11.35 5.16.46 9.17.71 COBURG 1.1.7 2.3.15 6.7.43 11.8.74 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Hardie 4 Kentfield 2 Baldi Cross Fullarton COBURG Johnston Weightman 3 Andrew D'Intinosante Podhajski Thompson Trudgeon BEST CASEY DEMONS Campbell Bonner Hardie McDonald Woewodin Kentfield COBURG Trudgeon Toohey D’Intinosante Kennedy Gillard Bella

After four weeks on the road the Demons make their long awaited return to the MCG next Sunday to play in a classic late season dead rubber against the North Melbourne Kangaroos. Who comes in and who comes out?

The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 7th July @ 8:00pm. Join Binman & I as we dissect the Dees disappointing loss to the Crows. Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show. Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

Max Gawn has a massive lead in the Demonland Player of the Year award ahead of Jake Bowey, Christian Petracca, Kysaiah Pickett and Clayton Oliver. Your votes please. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1.

The Demons were wasteful early before putting the foot down early in the 2nd quarter but they chased tail for the remainder of the match. They could not get their first use of the footy after half time and when they did poor skills, execution and decision making let them down.

Our handballing is sub standard

Sucked in Crows fans

That’s front in contract every day of the week

Our handballing has been atrocious all day.

Assume we didn't practice goal kicking this week either.

It's Game Day and the Demons are back on the road for their 3rd interstate game in 4 weeks as they face a fit and firing Crows at Adelaide Oval. With finals now out of our grasps what are you hoping from the Dees today?

A couple of retirement announcements and a Category B rookie pick at Melbourne bring us to this year’s HATCH MATCH & DESPATCH thread. There will be many more to come over the coming months - here’s this year’s version of the ins and outs at the AFL Clubs ~ ADELAIDE IN Callum Ah Chee (Brisbane), Indy Cotton (Category B rookie), Archie Ludowyke (Sandringham Dragons VIC), Finbar Maley (North Melbourne), Mitchell Marsh (West Adelaide SA), Tyler Welsh (redrafted) OUT Chris Burgess (delisted), Matt Crouch (retired), Karl Gallagher (delisted), Lachlan Murphy (delisted), Harry Schoenberg (West Coast Eagles), Brodie Smith (retired), Kieran Strachan (delisted), Tyler Welsh (delisted) BRISBANE IN Oscar Allen (West Coast Eagles), Daniel Annable (Brisbane Lions Academy QLD), Cody Curtin (Claremont WA), Sam Draper (Essendon), Koby Evans (Perth WA), Tai Hayes (Southport QLD), Connor McGregor (rookie upgrade), Ben Murphy (Category B rookie), Ryan Lester (rookie upgrade), Lincoln McCarthy (redrafted) OUT Callum Ah Chee (Adelaide), Darcy Craven (delisted), Sam Day (retired), Lincoln McCarthy (delisted), Oscar McInerney (retired), Deven Robertson (West Coast Eagles), Brandon Ryan (delisted), Brandon Starcevich (West Coast Eagles) CARLTON IN Ben Ainsworth (Gold Coast Suns), Talor Byrne (GWV Rebels VIC), Campbell Chesser (West Coast Eagles), Harry Dean (Murray Bushrangers VIC), Oliver Florent (Sydney Swans), Will Hayward (Sydney Swans), Jack Ison (Oakleigh Chargers VIC), Hudson O’Keeffe (rookie upgrade), Liam Reidy (Fremantle) OUT Jaxon Binns (delisted), Alex Cincotta (delisted), Charlie Curnow (Sydney Swans), Tom De Koning (St Kilda), Sam Docherty (retired), Corey Durdin (Port Adelaide), Orazio Fantasia (delisted), Elijah Hollands (delisted), Harry Lemmey (delisted), Jack Silvagni (St Kilda), Will White (delisted) COLLINGWOOD IN Angus Anderson (Sturt SA), Jack Buller (Sydney Swans), Zac McCarthy (Oakleigh Chargers VIC), Tyan Prindable (Brisbane Lions Academy QLD), Jai Saxena (Oakleigh Chargers VIC), Samuel Swadling (West Perth WA) OUT Mason Cox (Fremantle), Charlie Dean (delisted), Will Hoskin-Elliott (retired), Ash Johnson (delisted), Finlay Macrae (West Coast Eagles), Oleg Markov (delisted), Brody Mihocek (Melbourne), Tom Mitchell (delisted) ESSENDON IN Hussien El Achkar (Calder Cannons VIC), Cillian Bourke (Category B rookie), Jacob Farrow (West Perth WA), Brayden Fiorini (Gold Coast Suns), Max Kondogiannis (Oakleigh Chargers VIC), Jaxon Prior (rookie upgrade), Sullivan Robey (Eastern Ranges VIC), Dyson Sharp (Central District SA), Vigo Visentini (rookie upgrade) OUT Alwyn Davey Jnr (delisted) Sam Draper (Brisbane Lions) Todd Goldstein (delisted) Ben Hobbs (delisted), Jayden Laverde (GWS Giants), Luamon Lual (delisted), Jye Menzie (delisted), Will Setterfield (delisted), Dylan Shiel (delisted), Oskar Smartt (delisted) FREMANTLE IN Mason Cox (Collingwood), Joshua Draper (rookie upgrade), Leon Kickett (Swan Districts WA), Ryda Luke (South Fremantle WA), Judd McVee (Melbourne), Tobyn Murray (Geelong VFL), Jeremy Sharp (rookie upgrade), Adam Sweid (Calder Cannons VIC), Ryda Luke (South Fremantle WA), Toby Whan (South Fremantle WA) OUT James Aish (retired), Will Brodie (Port Adelaide), Jack Delean (delisted), Nat Fyfe (retired), Odin Jones (delisted), Quinton Narkle (retired), Liam Reidy (Carlton), Michael Walters (retired) GEELONG IN Harley Barker (Sturt SA), Nick Driscoll (Northern Knights VIC), Hunter Holmes (Oakleigh Chargers VIC), Keighton Matofai-Forbes (redrafted), Jesse Mellor (Geelong FalconsVIC), Oisin Mullin (rookie upgrade), George Stevens (redrafted), James Worpel (Hawthorn) OUT Ted Clohesy (delisted), Mitch Duncan (retired), Cam Guthrie (delisted), Xavier Ivisic (delisted), Keighton Matofai-Forbes (delisted), Patrick Retschko (Richmond), George Stevens (delisted) GOLD COAST SUNS IN Beau Addinsall (Gold Coast Suns Academy QLD), Sam Clohesy (rookie upgrade), Koby Coulson (Gold Coast Suns Academy QLD), Ben Jepson (redrafted), Jai Murray (Gold Coast Suns Academy QLD), Dylan Patterson (Gold Coast Suns Academy QLD), Christian Petracca (Melbourne), Avery Thomas (Tasmania Devils TAS), Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (Western Bulldogs), Zeke Uwland (Gold Coast Suns Academy QLD) OUT Ben Ainsworth (Carlton), Tom Berry (delisted), Connor Budarick (Western Bulldogs), Brayden Fiorini (Essendon), Sam Flanders (St Kilda), Ben Jepson (delisted), Lloyd Johnston (delisted), Sean Lemmens (retired), Malcolm Rosas Jnr (Sydney), Alex Sexton (delisted), David Swallow (retired) GWS GIANTS IN Finnegan Davis (Western Jets VIC), Riley Hamilton (GWS Giants Academy NSW), Jason Laverde (Essendon), Clayton Oliver (Melbourne), Conor Stone (redrafted), Jake Stringer (redrafted), Oskar Taylor (Eastern Ranges VIC) OUT Wade Derksen (delisted), Josh Fahey (delisted), Lachlan Keefe (retired), Conor Stone (delisted), Jake Stringer (delisted), Callan Ward (retired), Jacob Wehr (Port Adelaide) HAWTHORN IN James Blanck (rookie upgrade), Jack Dalton (Sandringham Dragons VIC), Ollie Greeves (Eastern Ranges VIC), Matthew LeRay (Central District SA), Cameron Nairn (Central District SA), Aidan Schubert (Central District SA) OUT Luke Breust (retired), Sam Frost (delisted), Changkuoth Jiath (Melbourne), Seamus Mitchell (delisted), Jasper Scaife (delisted), Jai Serong (Sydney Swans), James Worpel (Geelong) MELBOURNE IN Oscar Berry (Category B rookie), Max Heath (St Kilda), Changkuoth Jiath (Hawthorn), Thomas Matthews (Gippsland Power VIC), Brody Mihocek (Collingwood), Riley Onley (Murray Bushrangers VIC), Latrelle Pickett (Glenelg SA), Jack Steele (St Kilda), Xavier Taylor (Eastern Ranges VIC), Kalani White (Gold Coast Suns Academy QLD) OUT Jack Billings (free agent), Kynan Brown (delisted), Tom Fullarton (delisted), Marty Hore (delisted), Judd McVee (Fremantle), Clayton Oliver (GWS Giants), Christian Petracca (Gold Coast Suns), Oliver Sestan (delisted), Charlie Spargo (North Melbourne), Will Verrall (delisted), Taj Woewodin (delisted) NORTH MELBOURNE IN Lachy Dovaston (Eastern Ranges VIC), Hugo Mikunda (Geelong Falcons VIC), Charlie Spargo (Melbourne), Blake Thredgold (Sturt SA) OUT Miller Bergman (delisted), Kallan Dawson (delisted), Eddie Ford (delisted), Finnbar Maley (Adelaide), Geordie Payne (delisted), Will Phillips (delisted), Brynn Teakle (delisted), Darcy Tucker (delisted) PORT ADELAIDE IN Will Brodie (Fremantle), Thomas Cochrane (rookie upgrade), Corey Durdin (Carlton), Joshua Lai (rookie upgrade), Harrison Ramm (rookie upgrade), Jack Watkins (Port Adelaide SANFL), Jacob Wehr (GWS Giants) OUT Rory Atkins (retired), Travis Boak (retired), Ryan Burton (delisted), Lachie Charleson (delisted),Jeremy Finlayson (delisted), Hugh Jackson (delisted), Jed McEntee (delisted), Willie Rioli Jnr (retired), Dylan Williams (delisted) RICHMOND IN Seth Campbell (rookie upgrade), Sam Cumming (North Adelaide SA), Samuel Grlj (Oakleigh Chargers VIC), Zane Peucker (Woodville-West Torrens SA), Patrick Retschko (Geelong), Noah Roberts-Thomson (Sturt SA) OUT Jacob Bauer (delisted), Jacob Blight (delisted), Mate Colina (delisted), Thomson Dow (delisted), Jacob Koschitzke (delisted), Kamdyn McIntosh (retired), Tylar Young (West Coast Eagles) ST KILDA IN Charlie Banfield (Claremont WA), Ryan Byrnes (redrafted), Anthony Caminiti (rookie upgrade), Tom De Koning (Carlton), Kye Fincher (Sandringham Dragons VIC), Sam Flanders (Gold Coast Suns), Kobe Murphy (Category B rookie), Liam Ryan (West Coast Eagles), Patrick Said (redrafted), Jack Silvagni (Carlton) OUT Harry Boyd (delisted), Ryan Byrnes (delisted), Zaine Cordy (delisted), Max Heath (Melbourne), Zak Jones (delisted), Angus McLennan (delisted), Arie Schoenmaker (delisted), Jack Steele (Melbourne), Jimmy Webster (retired) SYDNEY SWANS IN Noah Chamberlain (Sydney Swans Academy NSW), Billy Cootee (Norwood SA), Charlie Curnow (Carlton), Liam Hetherton (Murray Bushrangers NSW), Max King (Sydney Swans Academy NSW), Harry Kyle (Sydney Swans Academy NSW), Jake Lloyd (redrafted), Jevan Phillipou (Woodville-West Torrens, SA), Dane Rampe (redrafted), Malcolm Rosas Jnr (Gold Coast Suns), Jai Serong (Hawthorn) OUT Jack Buller (Collingwood), Oliver Florent (Carlton), Robbie Fox (delisted), Aaron Francis (delisted), Will Hayward (Carlton), Indhi Kirk (delisted), Blake Leidler (delisted), Jake Lloyd (delisted), Caleb Mitchell (delisted), Ben Paton (delisted), Dane Rampe (delisted) WEST COAST EAGLES IN Sam Allen (Oakleigh Chargers VIC), Tyrell Dewar (rookie upgrade), Willem Duursma (Gippsland Power VIC), Cooper Duff-Tytler (Calder Cannons VIC), Josh Lindsay (Geelong Falcons VIC), Finlay Macrae (Collingwood), Deven Robertson (Brisbane), Fred Rodriguez (South Fremantle WA), Harry Schoenberg (Adelaide), Brandon Starcevich (Brisbane Lions), Tylah Williams (Swan Districts WA), Tylar Young (Richmond) OUT Oscar Allen (Brisbane Lions), Campbell Chesser (Carlton), Jayden Hunt (retired), Callum Jamieson (delisted), Coen Livingstone (delisted), Jeremy McGovern (retired), Jack Petruccelle (delisted), Loch Rawlinson (retired), Liam Ryan (St Kilda), Dom Sheed (retired) WESTERN BULLDOGS IN Oskar Baker (rookie upgrade), Connor Buderick (Gold Coast Suns), Lachlan Carmichael (Sydney Swans Academy NSW, Will Darcy (Oakleigh Chargers VIC), Louis Emmett (Oakleigh Chargers VIC), James O’Donnell (rookie upgrade) OUT Taylor Duryea (retired), Jason Johannisen (delisted), Liam Jones (delisted), Caleb Poulter (delisted), Anthony Scott (delisted), Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (Gold Coast Suns)

What’s next for a beleagured Melbourne Football Club down in form and confidence, facing intense criticism and disapproval over some underwhelming recent performances and in the midst of a four game losing streak? Why, it’s Adelaide which boasts the best percentage in the AFL and has won six of its last seven games. The Crows are hot and not only that, the game is at the Adelaide Oval; yet another away fixture and the third in a row at a venue outside of Victoria. One of the problems the Demons have these days is that they rarely have the luxury of true home ground advantage, something they have enjoyed just once since mid April. Still, the club seems to have done well at the Adelaide Oval against the Crows over the years but that was mainly while they were in the doldrums. These days, things are somewhat different and with Melbourne’s finals hopes out of reach and Adelaide well in the fight for a top four berth, it’s not looking promising for the visitors. The Dees have been slow starters throughout the season, a condition exacerbated by their continual inaccurate efforts when shooting for goal. Last week they were appalling with a solitary point for and 5 goals 7 behinds kicked against them. Thanks to a couple of outstanding efforts from veteran Jake Melksham and newly re-signed Kozzy Pickett, they almost fought their way back into contention but overall, they gave away too great a lead. Another half-hearted display to open proceedings will kill all interest in the contest and seeing that the game is being played in the wilderness time of 3.15pm on Sunday afternoon, it doesn’t command the most exciting play bill of the week anyway. If Melksham and Pickett were the stars of last week’s game, then there’s very little that can be said for what were formerly the team’s strengths. The midfield stars are no longer shining brightly and in fact are the problematic with their disposal to the forwards, but what can be said about the defence? Last week, two of its former stars in Tom McDonald and Jake Lever were languishing in the Casey side while Steven May struggled without much support and lucked about a little with the Suns’ poor kicking for goal early in the game. This week the backline must contend with the dominant presence of Riley Thilthorpe who marked strongly and finished with an equal-career-high five goals over Richmond. The question is who will stop him and even If he doesn’t score the goals then Fogarty, Walker and Rachele most likely will be the ones! I’d like to be my confident self this week but last week’s pathetic first quarter effort is permanently etched in my memory. I’m not able to let that go so it’s Adelaide by 51 points. THE GAME Adelaide v Melbourne at The Adelaide Oval on Sunday 6 July 2025 at 3.15pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall - Adelaide 26 wins Melbourne 20 wins At Adelaide Oval - Adelaide 2 wins Melbourne 6 wins Past five meetings - wins Adelaide 1 win Melbourne 4 The Coaches - Matthew Nicks 1 win Simon Goodwin 5 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 10.18.78 defeated Adelaide 8.15.63 at the Adelaide Oval, Round 4, 2024 This was Melbourne’s second game at the Adelaide Oval in five days and it was well in control of the game from quarter time to complete a convincing double in the City of Churches. Max Gawn dominated in the ruck and Christian Petracca was outstanding with 29 touches. THE TEAMS ADELAIDE B J. Worrell, J. Butts, R. Laird HB M. Hinge, M. Keane, S. Berry C I. Cumming, J. Dawson, D. Curtin HF B. Keays, R. Thilthorpe, M. Michalanney. F J. Soligo, T. Walker, D. Fogarty. FOLL R. O'Brien, I. Rankine, J. Peatling I/C L. Murphy, A. Neal-Bullen, J. Rachele, B. Smith SUB Z. Taylor EMG H. Bond, C. Burgess IN Z. Taylor OUT W. Milera (personal) MELBOURNE B J. Bowey, S. May, J. Lever HB J. McVee, D. Turner, C. Salem C X. Lindsay, C. Petracca, E. Langdon HF J. Viney, B. Fritsch, K. Chandler F J. Melksham, M. Jefferson, K. Pickett FOLL M. Gawn, C. Oliver, T. Sparrow I/C H. Langford, T. Rivers, K. Tholstrup, J. van Rooyen SUB H. Sharp EMG J. Adams, J. Billings, T. McDonald IN J. Lever, J. van Rooyen OUT B. Howes (concussion), H. Petty (concussion) Injury List: Round 17 Charlie Spargo — Scapula / Test Oliver Sestan — hamstring / 1 week Blake Howes — concussion / 1 - 2 weeks Harry Petty — concussion / 1 - 2 weeks Aidan Johnson — ankle / 3 - 4 weeks Shane McAdam — Achilles / season Andy Moniz-Wakefield — knee / season

Who are you tipping this week?

Goals from Free Kicks (After 14 Rounds): Best differentials1 - Carlton (+12) 2 - Brisbane (+11) 3 - Hawthorn (+6) Eq.4 - North Melbourne & Geelong (+5) Worst differentials1 - St Kilda (-16) 2 - Adelaide (-7) 3 - Melbourne (-6) 4 - Sydney (-5) Eq.5 - Richmond, Port Adelaide & GWS (-3) Most goals kicked from frees1 - Hawthorn (29) Eq.2 - Brisbane, Gold Coast & Bulldogs (28) 5 - North Melbourne (26) 6 - Carlton (25) Least goals kicked from frees1 - St Kilda (9) 2 - West Coast (14) 3 - Adelaide (15) 4 - Collingwood (16) Eq.5 - Essendon & Fremantle (17) Most goals conceded from frees1 - Melbourne (27) 2 - Western Bulldogs (26) 3 - St Kilda (25) Eq.4 - Gold Coast & Sydney (24) Least goals conceded from frees1 - Carlton (13) 2 - Collingwood (15) Eq.3 - Fremantle & West Coast (16) Eq.5 - Brisbane & Geelong (17) The 2025 Goals from Free Kicks Ladder - Round 14Carlton (+12) sits atop the Goals from Free Kicks differential with 25 goals and only 13 against. They've been conscientious in that regard. Second is Brisbane (+11) with the equal second most goals from frees (28) and 17 goals conceded, ahead of Hawthorn (+6) who have the most goals from frees with 29. Making up the top five is North Melbourne and Geelong (+5) with Gold Coast (+4) next. The team that has seemingly not been looked after when it comes to Goals from Free Kicks is... look away Saints fans... St Kilda with just nine majors from frees. Their differential of -16 is comfortably the worst in the league. Second bottom is Adelaide (-7) with only 15 goals from frees, narrowly behind Melbourne (-6) and Sydney (-5). See the Goals FK Ladder after Round 14 below: We also thought we'd throw in the Goals from 50-Metre Penalties differential for your perusal. NOTE: Seven clubs (Geelong, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hawthorn, GWS, Melbourne & West Coast) have played 14 games. 10 clubs (Collingwood, Fremantle, Bulldogs, Carlton, Port Adelaide, Essendon, Sydney, St Kilda, North Melbourne & Richmond) have played 13 games. One club (Gold Coast) has played 12 games.

After Round 16: Best differentials1 - Hawthorn (+56) 2 - Carlton (+47) 3 - Brisbane (+33) 4 - Gold Coast (+29) 5 - Melbourne (+26) Worst differentials1 - Port Adelaide (-69) 2 - North Melbourne (-51) 3 - GWS Giants (-39) 4 - West Coast (-37) 5 - Fremantle (-18) Most frees for1 - Carlton (338) 2 - Hawthorn (323) 3 - Adelaide (316) 4 - Melbourne (305) 5 - Brisbane (299) Least frees for1 - GWS Giants (252) 2 - Port Adelaide (256) 3 - Richmond (266) 4 - Essendon (269) 5 - West Coast (271) Most frees against1 - North Melbourne (331) 2 - Port Adelaide (325) 3 - Adelaide (315) 4 - Fremantle (310) 5 - West Coast (308) Least frees against1 - Essendon (255) 2 - Gold Coast (264) Eq.3 - Western Bulldogs & Brisbane (266) 5 - Hawthorn (267) The 2025 Free Kick Ladder - Round 16Last time we took a look at these numbers was after Round 10 when Hawthorn led the way with a differential of +63. The Hawks (+56) remain on top but the gap has been somewhat bridged by Carlton (+47) who sit second thanks to the most frees for (338). Brisbane (+33) occupies third position after sitting fifth six weeks ago, slightly ahead of Queensland compatriots Gold Coast (+29), with Melbourne (+26) making up the top five. At the foot of the table, Port Adelaide (-69) are on the nose with the match officials, attracting the second fewest frees (256) and giving away the second most (325). North Melbourne (-51) has also copped the raw end of the deal, infringing most frequently with 331 frees against. GWS (-39) sits third bottom, while the noise of affirmation in 2025 for WA duo West Coast (-37) and Fremantle (-18) is not quite there. See the FK Ladder after Round 16 below: NOTE: Gold Coast and Essendon have played 14 games, the rest of the clubs have played 15. Just to mix it up a little, we’ve thrown in a quick glimpse at the individual free kick numbers on the back of Tom Lynch’s five frees against in Round 16. Most frees for (player) 43 - Darcy Cameron (COL) 36 - Max Gawn (MEL) 35 - Jarrod Witts (GCS) 35 - Tristan Xerri (NM) 33 - Jai Newcombe (HAW) 32 - Tim English (WB) 31 - Patrick Cripps (CAR) 30 - Reilly O’Brien (ADE) 30 - Caleb Serong (FRE) 29 - Andrew Brayshaw (FRE) 29 - Nick Daicos (COL) Most frees against (player) 43 - Harley Reid (WCE) 40 - Rowan Marshall (STK) 37 - Matt Rowell (GCS) 33 - Brodie Grundy (SYD) 30 - Toby Nankervis (RIC) 29 - Patrick Cripps (CAR) 29 - Tristan Xerri (NM) 27 - Luke Davies-Uniacke (NM) 27 - Max Gawn (MEL) 26 - Jordon Sweet (PA)

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