The umpire steps in during a scuffle between the Crows and Swans. Picture: AFL Photos

EVERYONE in AFL football has heard of the 'noise of affirmation' but at the weekend we discovered the 'confirmation of silence'.

The sample size is small but what evidence there is of how games would be umpired without crowds confirms the suspicion we probably all had.

All of the AFL's nine round one matches were as good as played in front of empty stadiums, owing to the coronavirus outbreak – and the free kick counts made for interesting reading.

Home and away free kick counts in round one GAMES HOME FREE KICKS AWAY FREE KICKS HOME DIFFERENTIAL Richmond v Carlton 18 24 -6 Western Bulldogs v Collingwood 12 19 -7 Essendon v Fremantle 17 11 +6 Adelaide v Sydney 18 21 -3 GWS v Geelong 24 15 +9 Gold Coast v Port Adelaide 14 17 -3 North Melbourne v St Kilda 21 17 +4 Hawthorn v Brisbane 20 15 +5 West Coast v Melbourne 9 11 -2

Matches in italics involved teams from different states

Six of those contests saw clubs travel interstate to play, which would typically result in them having a crowd support disadvantage and being on the wrong side of the free kick ledger.

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That factor was removed, and the home and away sides split the free kick count across those matches last week.

Only Brisbane, Greater Western Sydney and St Kilda have a negative free kick differential at home against interstate rivals since 2010.

Umpires walk out to an empty Metricon Stadium in R1, 2020. Picture: AFL Photos

West Coast, Port Adelaide and Adelaide have the greatest positive differential in the same period.

In fact, the Lions are the sole visitors in that time to win more free kicks than the Eagles in Perth (plus-six from four clashes), with West Coast overall averaging 5.5 more free kicks than its interstate opposition in 108 games.

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However, the Eagles have now narrowly lost the free kick count twice in a row at home to the Demons, after winning the previous seven dating to the 2011 season, by an average of 8.3 free kicks.

Free kicks at home since 2010 CLUB HOME GAMES v INTERSTATE TEAM FREE KICK DIFFERENTIAL Adelaide 105 +260 Brisbane 104 -8 Carlton 45 +143 Collingwood 45 +96 Essendon 42 +85 Fremantle 95 +137 Geelong 55 +157 Gold Coast 92 +12 GWS 85 -10 Hawthorn 69 +106 Melbourne 46 +56 North Melbourne 54 +141 Port Adelaide 122 +285 Richmond 46 +31 St. Kilda 43 -15 Sydney 111 +76 West Coast 108 +595 Western Bulldogs 51 +221



Brisbane finds itself in several unexplained free kick quirks, including being the only side to not have a positive differential against Hawthorn in Tasmania.

The Hawks have now won the count against the Lions in nine out of their past 10 meetings at the MCG or Launceston.

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Neither the Crows nor the Suns have a notable free kick advantage in their match-ups in the past decade with the Swans and Power, respectively, but both have won the count more often than losing it.

There is a greater advantage in this time period for the Bombers and Giants over the Dockers and Cats, respectively.

Phil Davis might have lost this battle with the umps, but the Giants won the free kick war against Geelong. Picture: AFL Photos

Essendon's been in front of Fremantle in the free kick count four of the past five times at home, while GWS is plus-30 against Geelong across their past four contests in Giants territory.

There is a strong prospect of crowds not being let in even if the season resumes, and the early evidence suggests that means home-ground advantage might not be what it once was.