John Worsfold to seek meeting with AFL umpires’ boss Hayden Kennedy over Essendon’s horrid free kick ledger

ESSENDON has won two of its past three matches, yet are on the wrong end of a massive free kick differential. Mark Robinson speaks to key people at the Bombers and reveals how the club is trying to even the ledger.

The Bombers have been left frustrated by recent free kick decisions. Picture: Getty Images

ESSENDON coach John Worsfold will seek a meeting with umpires’ boss Hayden Kennedy about why the Bombers are on the wrong end of a woeful free-kick ledger.

Over three weeks Essendon has been awarded 45 free kicks and its opposition’s 80.

Worsfold called Kennedy last week after the 11-21 free- kick count against North Melbourne, but will escalate the conversation by meeting Kennedy personally.

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Bombers head of football Dan Richardson has also twice spoken to AFL head of football Steve Hocking over free-kick concerns in the past fortnight.

“I’ve had a couple of discussions with ‘Hock’ personally and ‘Woosha’ has had some contact with Hayden as well,’’ Richardson told the Herald Sun.

“There’s a level of concern around and we would like to get to the bottom of it if we can.

“There may well be something wrong with how we’re coaching our players.

The Bombers have been left frustrated by recent free kick decisions. Picture: AAP Images

“Is there issues with our approach technically or are there examples of where the umpires are getting it wrong?

“I’m not sure yet. We’ll work through a few examples and see if we can learn from it.

“We’ll aim to schedule a meeting with Hayden (this week),” Richardson said.

There was widespread angst at the weekend over umpiring, led by North Melbourne coach Brad Scott, who labelled the protected area rule perplexing.

“For the frustration of everyone, yes (we need to fix it now),” Scott said. “It’s going to drive people nuts if something doesn’t change.’’

Fox Footy commentator Cameron Mooney said the rule was “destroying the game’’.

It’s understood Bombers chiefs were confused by several holding-the-ball rulings — or non-rulings.

Essendon fans took to twitter after the clash against Collingwood on Sunday, venting their anger with the hashtag #freekickCollingwood.

Richardson stressed their concerns were not about the free kick differentials.

It should be noted the Bombers contacted the AFL after recent victories.

“We’re not suggesting that umpiring is the reason why we win or lose, you just want clarification on consistency,” Richardson said.

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