Being a defender in a bottom-ranked team has some perks, at least statistically, for modern-day footballers.
In 2020, the rules were altered to allow players to run directly out of the goal square without first kicking the ball to themselves and the eventual kick counted as a statistic.
To assist the kicker, the man on the mark, after a behind was scored, was forced to stand an extra five metres back.
Among those to benefit from the play on role is Rochester defender Blake Evans, who is ranked second in the Goulburn Valley League for both kick-ins and rebound 50s, a statistic consistent with the elite level of the sport.
Rochester sits second-bottom on the ladder this season, as does AFL club North Melbourne, where former captain Jack Ziebell is credited with the most kick-ins in the AFL this season.
Zeibell has taken 71 kick-ins this season and played on in all but four of those occasions.
He has 232 kicks and 42 handballs to his credit, a total of 251 disposals.
Collingwood gun Nick Daicos, who started the season as the Magpies’ primary kick-in port of call, has the most disposals in the AFL this season (372).
Apart from Daicos, no other player who regularly takes kick-ins is ranked inside the top 30 possession winners in the AFL (Zeibell is 30th).
Not everyone fully cashes in on the opportunity for a free stat. Melbourne key defender Steven May has stayed inside the confines of the goal square for 15 of his 59 kick-ins this season.
Fremantle’s Luke Ryan is third on the list, with 59 free bites of the cherry after playing on from the goal square. He has a 217-46 kick to handball ratio.
Of the AFL kickers, Ryan is the most efficient with an amazing disposal efficiency of 89.2 per cent.
Zeibell goes at 86.1 per cent and Daicos at 78.4 per cent.
In spite of what social media will tell you, Daicos is second to his skipper Darcy Moore in regards to the amount of kick-ins he takes. Moore is credited with 46 and Daicos has played on for all of his 41 kick-ins.
Rochester’s Evans has taken 48 kick-ins this season (GVL statistics don’t include round seven — from a possible 69, Hamish Hooppell has taken 12 kick-ins) and has returned the ball into general play on the second-most occasions in the competition.
He has also had the second most kicks of any player in the competition, with 126. He prefers to go by foot and has recorded just 23 handballs this season.
Shepparton United’s Mitchell Roche has almost an identical statistical return to Evans this season and has taken more kick-ins than any other player with 53.
He has 124 kicks and 23 handballs and is also rated as elite for intercept possessions (29).
Shepparton’s Mitchell Brett has more kicks than any other player in the competition, but has been quite active in general play, having taken only 36 kick-ins.
He shares the kick-in responsibility with another top 10 kicker Ted Lindon, who has taken 27 kick-ins.
Lindon has the most rebound 50s of any player in the GVL (51), 10 more than second-ranked Evans and ahead of Benalla’s Jordan Wolfe (40).
Of the GVL kick-in kings, Evans is the most efficient, with a kicking efficiency of 73 per cent.