Ever wondered who are the best kicks in the AFL? With the help of Champion Data, we've dug into the numbers to find the answers.
We've discovered your team's best short and long kicks, kicks under pressure and in front of goal.
To determine the best kicks, we're looking at Champion Data's 'Kick Rating' which takes into account how often a player hits the target compared to the league average across the past 12 years. It's based on the location of a kick, the pressure received on disposal, intention of kick and location of target.
Each category has the following qualifier:
Best short kick: Minimum 30 kicks
Best long kick: Minimum 25 kicks
Best kick under pressure: Minimum 15 kicks
Best kick for goal: Minimum 8 kicks
Best overall kicking efficiency: Minimum 30 kicks
Skip ahead to your team here:
Crows | Lions | Blues | Magpies | Bombers | Dockers | Cats | Suns | Giants | Hawks | Demons | Roos | Power | Tigers | Saints | Swans | Eagles | Bulldogs
Adelaide
Most kicks: Brodie Smith (311)
Best short kick: Tom Lynch (+11.1%)
Best long kick: Tom Doedee (+4.2%)
Best kick under pressure: Reilly O'Brien (+17.2%)
Best kick for goal: Darcy Fogarty (+20.4%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Darcy Fogarty (+12%)
Unsurprisingly, Smith leads the way at the Crows for total kicks. The running halfback has had more metres gained than anyone else in the competition this season, while teammate Paul Seedsman sits fourth in that category. Fogarty's accuracy in front of goal has been well documented, with the young Crow kicking an impressive 45.11 in his career to date.
Brisbane
Most kicks: Daniel Rich (389)
Best short kick: Dayne Zorko (+7.2%)
Best long kick: Hugh McCluggage (+9.4%)
Best kick under pressure: Grant Birchall (+18%)
Best kick for goal: Lincoln McCarthy (+9%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Grant Birchall (+6.5%)
The eye test tells you Rich and Zorko are two of the best ball users by foot in the league, so you can understand why coach Chris Fagan wants it in their hands as much as possible. McCarthy has become quite the sharpshooter for Brisbane and is one of the best set shots for goal in the league, while Birchall continues to do what he did at the Hawks for so many years.
Carlton
Most kicks: Sam Docherty (254)
Best short kick: Jack Martin (+13.7%)
Best long kick: Jack Silvagni (+9.8%)
Best kick under pressure: Adam Saad (+19.2%)
Best kick for goal: Marc Murphy (+11.5%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Eddie Betts (+7.5%)
Betts isn't just a great kick for goal, his ability to hit targets further up the ground is also first class and he currently leads the way at the Blues for total kicking efficiency. Carlton gets plenty of run and drive off Saad, so to see him as one of the competition's best kicks when under some form of physical pressure is a huge bonus.
Collingwood
Most kicks: Brayden Maynard (288)
Best short kick: Chris Mayne (+8.7%)
Best long kick: Nathan Murphy (+9.1%)
Best kick under pressure: Steele Sidebottom (+11.1%)
Best kick for goal: Jamie Elliott (+26%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Trey Ruscoe (+9.6%)
The Pies love getting the ball in Mayne's hands and the numbers here show you why, with the former Docker the team's best short kicker. But perhaps they need to be going to youngster Ruscoe a little more often, who has impressed since being shifted to the backline. Sidebottom isn't just great under pressure, he's also one of the AFL's top five kickers on his opposite foot, a kick he opts for around 30% of the time.
Essendon
Most kicks: Nick Hind (282)
Best short kick: Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (+10.6%)
Best long kick: Aaron Francis (+8.1%)
Best kick under pressure: Devon Smith (+16.5%)
Best kick for goal: Darcy Parish (+19.4%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (+14%)
Parish isn't just tearing up the competition in the midfield but his kicking for goal is also first rate, particularly for a ball-winning midfielder. But nobody in the Bombers side kicks better than AMT, who rarely wastes a disposal by foot and is one of the league's premier set shots.
Fremantle
Most kicks: Luke Ryan (277)
Best short kick: Sam Switkowski (+13.2%)
Best long kick: Lachie Schultz (+12.5%)
Best kick under pressure: Travis Colyer (+14.3%)
Best kick for goal: Andrew Brayshaw (+19.5%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Mitch Crowden (+10.8%)
Some interesting names appear here for the Dockers, with Switkowski, Schultz and Colyer all in the elite category for ball use by foot. Interestingly, Brayshaw, who has had his fair share of struggles in front of goal prior to 2021, is Fremantle's best in that department this year, while skipper Nat Fyfe is the club's worst
Geelong
Most kicks: Tom Stewart (344)
Best short kick: Mitch Duncan (+13.1%)
Best long kick: Mark O'Connor (+11.7%)
Best kick under pressure: Mitch Duncan (+21.9%)
Best kick for goal: Mitch Duncan (+19.1%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Jordan Clark (+10.4%)
He's a top 10 player in intercept possessions, and Stewart also takes more kicks than any other Cat. But the player Chris Scott really wants with with the ball is Duncan, who is the club's best short kicker by some distance. Duncan is also the best user under pressure and in front of goal. It highlights just how valuable he is to this premiership fancied side.
Gold Coast
Most kicks: Jack Lukosius (313)
Best short kick: Brayden Fiorini (+5.7%)
Best long kick: Ben Ainsworth (+8%)
Best kick under pressure: Oleg Markov (+23.5%)
Best kick for goal: Lachie Weller (+11.7%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Rory Atkins (+17.3%)
There's no surprise Lukosius has taken the most kicks at the club, but it's a little shocking to see his name not appear at the top of any other category here. Instead, the Suns' best overall kicker is Atkins, who was brought in from the Crows for his outside ball use. You have to say that move gets a big tick at the moment.
GWS
Most kicks: Isaac Cumming (301)
Best short kick: Jeremy Finlayson (+12.8%)
Best long kick: Daniel Lloyd (+6.4%)
Best kick under pressure: Toby Greene (+15.1%)
Best kick for goal: Daniel Lloyd (+15.1%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Phil Davis (+9.9%)
Greene and Lloyd rarely let you down with ball in hand in the front half, while Finlayson's short ball use is considerably underrated. Davis may be looking well past it as a key defender, but he remains the best overall kick at the club in 2021, almost 10 percent better than the league average.
Hawthorn
Most kicks: Blake Hardwick (265)
Best short kick: Jack Scrimshaw (+10.5%)
Best long kick: Chad Wingard (+11.1%)
Best kick under pressure: Jarman Impey (+14.3%)
Best kick for goal: Tom Phillips (+19.2%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Jack Scrimshaw (+8.2%)
Just about the biggest surprise from this entire list was the omission of Luke Breust's name. Instead, Phillips leads the way at the Hawks for shots at goal, while former Sun Scrimshaw has developed into the elite kicker many new he would and could be.
Melbourne
Most kicks: Christian Petracca (285)
Best short kick: Tom McDonald (+6.9%)
Best long kick: Harrison Petty (+7.3%)
Best kick under pressure: Charlie Spargo (+22.7%)
Best kick for goal: Bayley Fritsch (+10%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Bayley Fritsch (+7.9%)
No Demon has taken more kicks than Petracca, but he is one of the team's less reliable by foot. The man who rarely fails is Fritsch, who is not only the club's best kick for goal but their most efficient anywhere around the ground. Petty has done a stellar job filling the void of Adam Tomlinson in defence, becoming Melbourne's best long kick through his stretch of games.
North Melbourne
Most kicks: Jack Ziebell (389)
Best short kick: Connor Menadue (+17.9%)
Best long kick: Aaron Hall (+5.5%)
Best kick under pressure: Jack Mahony (+15.2%)
Best kick for goal: Taylor Garner (+24.7%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Connor Menadue (+10.2%)
The Kangaroos have conceeded more points than any other team, giving Ziebell and Hall plenty of kick outs. Unsurprisingly, they lead the club in kicks this year. Garner's impressive 7.1 from four games has him North's best kick for goal, while former Tiger Menadue is the most reliable short and overall kick.
Port Adelaide
Most kicks: Karl Amon (260)
Best short kick: Zak Butters (+15.3%)
Best long kick: Ryan Burton (+13.1%)
Best kick under pressure: Aliir Aliir (+19.9%)
Best kick for goal: Miles Bergman (+11.5%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Martin Frederick (+17.1%)
One of the top recruits of the year has been Aliir to the Power. He's become an intercepting king and to top it off he has become the best under pressure kick at the club. Youngsters Butters, Bergman and Frederick are all impressing with their disposal by foot, too.
Richmond
Most kicks: Jayden Short (345)
Best short kick: Shane Edwards (+13.9%)
Best long kick: Kane Lambert (+12.5%)
Best kick under pressure: Nathan Broad (+30.6%)
Best kick for goal: Jack Graham (+24.4%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Nick Vlastuin (+10%)
The eye test says Dustin Martin is one of the competition's best kicks, but he doesn't top any category at the Tigers in 2021. Another real surprise. Broad is the AFL's best kick under pressure while Graham sits in the top five for kicks at goal.
St Kilda
Most kicks: Dougal Howard (247)
Best short kick: Jack Lonie (+10.8%)
Best long kick: Ryan Byrnes (+23.7%)
Best kick under pressure: Zak Jones (+15.5%)
Best kick for goal: Mason Wood (+24.2%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Mason Wood (+9.2%)
He doesn't get much of the ball but when Wood is shooting at goal he often makes it count. He's the club's best kick from his limited playing time, while youngster Byrnes has proven to be damaging by foot over a long distance.
Sydney
Most kicks: Jake Lloyd (323)
Best short kick: Robbie Fox (+13.8%)
Best long kick: Tom Papley (+10.4%)
Best kick under pressure: Lance Franklin (+29.8%)
Best kick for goal: Justin McInerney (+30.7%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Lance Franklin (+12%)
Unsurprisingly, Franklin is the best rated kick at the Swans, but he doesn't hold top billing at the club in front of the big sticks. That belongs to impressive youngster McInerney. Running defender Lloyd once again leads the way for total kicks at the club, assisted by him taking the majority of kicks-outs.
West Coast
Most kicks: Andrew Gaff (269)
Best short kick: Jake Waterman (+11.3%)
Best long kick: Jamie Cripps (+10.1%)
Best kick under pressure: Luke Shuey (+16%)
Best kick for goal: Jamaine Jones (+16.9%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Josh Kennedy (+8%)
Often seen as the league's best kicking side, the Eagles have a number of expected names at the top. Gaff leads the way in kicks but it's spearhead Kennedy who is the best overall disposal. Skipper and inside midfielder Shuey tops the list for kicking under pressure.
Western Bulldogs
Most kicks: Bailey Dale (296)
Best short kick: Jason Johannisen (+13.1%)
Best long kick: Mitch Hannan (+17.2%)
Best kick under pressure: Bailey Dale (+9.2%)
Best kick for goal: Bailey Dale (+63.4%)
Best overall kicking efficiency: Riley Garcia (+18.5%)
Dale might be one of the competition's most underrated kickers. He tops the club leaderboard in total kicks, kicks under pressure and kicks in front of goal. The other surprise is youngster Garcia, who has quickly emerged as the best all-round kick at the Dogs.