AFL 2023: Champion Data analysis reveals players with the best kick rating at every club
Champion Data has crunched the numbers to make the definitive call on the best kicks in the AFL. Who makes the top 50? See every name here.
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Premier Geelong has the most quality kickers in the AFL, boasting more players with a top kick rating than any other club as an evergreen forward leads the league with the classiest boot in the game.
Exclusive analysis by Champion Data has uncovered the best kicks at every team as the Cats emerged on top with eight players in the top 50 in the competition for kick rating.
Fresh from his eight-goal haul against Essendon at the MCG, veteran Geelong goalkicker Tom Hawkins has the highest kick rating in the competition of +19.8 per cent, ahead of Melbourne forwards Kade Chandler (+17.1) and Bayley Fritsch (+15.8).
Cats Jeremy Cameron, Zach Tuohy, Patrick Dangerfield, Gryan Miers, Mitch Duncan, Max Holmes and Norm Smith medallist Isaac Smith are all in the top-50.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE BEST AND WORST KICK AT YOUR CLUB
Hawkins is the only Cat inside the kick rating top 10, with Cameron the next best at No.12.
“Hawkins has excelled in this area, his field kicking and shots at goal have been of a high quality, contributing to his overall return,” Champion Data AFL analyst Corey Mobilio said.
“He has attempted a hard number of field kicks, however, Hawkins has gone 25 per cent above expectation from these kicks.
“He also has an expected accuracy of 52 per cent from his shots at goal, with his return 17 per cent above expectation – ranked fourth of 35 players to have had at least 20 shots at goal.”
The Demons and Blues – featuring half-back Adam Saad (No.8) and forward Charlie Curnow (No.10) – are the only clubs to have two players in the top 10.
Richmond is one of three teams without a player featured in the top 50 alongside the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne.
Triple Norm Smith medallist Dustin Martin has been a slider in this category, according to Champion Data.
“Dustin Martin and Kamdyn McIntosh were both ranked in the top 20 players in the AFL last season who recorded a minimum of 100 kicks,” Mobilio said.
“In 2023, Martin has returned a kick rating of 9 per cent below expectation while McIntosh is 6 per cent below expectation.”
The Bulldogs and the Kangaroos are the bottom-two teams based on overall kick rating this year, with a noticeable drop for the 2022 standout in this category for Luke Beveridge’s men.
“Caleb Daniel has featured in a different role (this season),” Mobilio said.
“He recorded the second-highest kick rating in the competition last season, but has dropped to 8 per cent below expectation in 2023.”
Despite sitting at the top of the AFL ladder, Collingwood has only two players with a top-50 kick rating – recruit Bobby Hill and forward Brody Mihocek.
The Brisbane Lions, GWS Giants and Sydney Swans follow Geelong for the most players ranked in the AFL’s top 50 for kick rating, with five each.
The Crows and Carlton are the next best with four. The Blues came out on top mid-season last year when they had six players in the top 50, but that number has slipped to four this season.
Champion Data ranks veteran Dayne Zorko as the best ball user at the Lions, who also have Lincoln McCarthy, Harris Andrews, Zac Bailey and Eric Hipwood joining the former skipper in the top 50.
Despite their form slide, the Swans have forward Logan McDonald, Jake Lloyd, Callum Mills, Braeden Campbell and Isaac Heeney in the top 50 for kick rating.
While Carlton topped the list approaching mid-season last year, the number of Blues in the top 50 has been impacted by the decline of one and injury to another.
“We’ve seen a notable decline from Zac Fisher, who after 11 rounds last season had the second-highest kick rating in the competition behind Collingwood’s Scott Pendlebury,” Mobilio said.
“In 2023, Fisher has gone 5 per cent below expectation, which is the second lowest at the club behind Ollie Hollands.
“Carlton is also missing Zac Williams, who was elite by foot last season.”
Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver (-11.8) and Brisbane Lions recruit Josh Dunkley (-8.4) were two stars to own a negative kick rating, based on Champion Data’s analysis.
Port Adelaide’s Miles Bergman (-18), Fremantle’s Sean Darcy (-15.3) and West Coast’s Andrew Gaff (-16.6) were among the lowest kick ratings in the competition.
Champion Data based its analysis for each club on a 40-kick minimum this season.
The AFL stat gurus explained the kick rating as the difference between a player’s expected hit rate and their actual hit rate.
“A negative kick rating indicates a player is not executing the kicks as well as the competition average, and a positive kick rating shows a player is hitting the target more often than the competition average,” Mobilio explained.
“We take into account the amount of pressure the player is under and what type of kick they are trying to pull off ,and can compare that to the competition average across the past 10 years to work out what the expected hit rate is for each kick.”
Originally published as AFL 2023: Champion Data analysis reveals players with the best kick rating at every club
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