Alan Richardson has opened up about his growing frustration with free kick counts in Perth
NEW year, new stadium but the same old home town whistle? The West Coast Eagles are getting the rub of the green with the umpires out west, with the club enjoying a staggering run of free kick dominance. Does the AFL need to step in?
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NEW year, new stadium but the same old home town whistle?
AFL coach Alan Richardson has opened up on his growing frustration with lopsided free kick counts out west.
The Eagles have led the free kick differential statistics at home in all but one of their games this year, with that coming in Round 1 against Sydney.
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Since then the Eagles have topped the counts against Geelong (26-19), Gold Coast (28-19), Port Adelaide (30-13), Richmond (21-10) and St Kilda (25-12).
That is a total advantage of 57 free kicks.
Richardson last year highlighted the noise of the crowd as having a major influence on the umpires.
He said things hadn’t changed at the new stadium.
“I got really frustrated on the weekend and it’s the non-calls,” he said on Fox Footy.
“That’s the point I’m trying to make about this noise (and) the influence it has on the umpires.
“It’s massive, the noise. I think it has potentially gone to a new level at this stadium. It was off the charts.”
Geelong coach Chris Scott said the recent free kick trends were “extreme”. The Cats lost to the Eagles by 15 points in Perth in Round 3.
However, Scott doesn’t see this as a new issue.
“It’s not just one or two years. It’s over a long period of time. And I think the umpires, to their credit, when you make that point, they agree with you,” he said.
“Maybe they haven’t publicly and … I might be stretching it, but my understanding is that when there’s a big crowd reaction, it’s human nature for you to respond and I think that they acknowledge it’s real.
“It’s not conscious but it might be a subconscious reaction.”
For St Kilda fans, the frustration with playing against the Eagles in Perth has been growing for years.
In Round 2, 2017 the free kick count was 23-8. In Round 8, 2016 the count was 24-13. In Round 23, 2015 the count was 23-6.
However, Scott said it would be crazy to think the umpires could avoid the noise at the ground.
“If you look at this from their perspective, do they (the AFL) say to the umpires ‘look there’s going to be a lot of noise’, when it looks like it’s going to be an Eagles free kick, and there’s going to be nothing for the Saints, so you’ve got to adjust a little bit for that?” Scott said.
“That’s crazy.”
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Originally published as Alan Richardson has opened up about his growing frustration with free kick counts in Perth
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