These are the players you want delivering the football to your forwards.

Teammates inside 50 start licking their lips when players such as Tom Atkins (68.3 per cent) or Patrick Lipinski (65.5) are steaming towards goal.

It is known as the money kick. It’s arguably one of the most pivotal elements to scoring.

According to WheeloRatings, Geelong has four players (Atkins, Shaun Mannagh, Gryan Miers and Ollie Dempsey) in the top 10 of the competition (minimum 50 kicks inside 50) who have their kicks retained by teammates inside the arc.

This statistic led to the Cats averaging the most marks inside 50 for 2025 (15.7 per game) and helped claim second for total points scored, sitting narrowly behind the Western Bulldogs.

Jeremy Cameron was a major beneficiary of the crucial stat, kicking 88 goals for the year. Shannon Neale slotted 44.

Gold Coast are the only other club with multiple elite ball users. Ben Ainsworth (61 per cent) and Matt Rowell (58.1 per cent) sat among the top 10.

Incredibly, first-year gun and Rising Star winner Murphy Reid rated second in the league, recording 66.7 per cent retention inside 50.

Chad Warner was the lone player whose team didn’t feature in the 2025 finals series, despite ranking seventh for kicks inside 50 retained by teammates.

 

Of the teams that made the top eight, Adelaide, Brisbane and GWS didn’t feature in the top 10, although Taylor Walker came in at 11, just behind Ollie Dempsey.

Look below to see who leads your club and the gap to the rest of the competition.

 

However, across the entire competition, clubs sit at an average of 47.2 per cent inside 50 retention.

Understandably, Geelong tops the table with over 50 per cent, and is joined by the Bulldogs as the only ones who tip the scale over one in every second kick.

Surprisingly, reigning premiers Brisbane come in at 16th in the competition at 44.1 per cent. However, their poor return rate clearly hasn’t impacted their ability to secure a second consecutive flag.

Club

Kick inside 50 to retention %

Geelong
52.6%

Western Bulldogs
50.4%

St Kilda
49.5%

Adelaide
48.9%

GWS
48.7%

Gold Coast
48.6%

Hawthorn
48.6%

Collingwood
48.5%

North Melbourne
47.4%

Carlton
46.5%

Melbourne
46.2%

Sydney
46.2%

Fremantle
45.9%

Essendon
45.5%

Port Adelaide
45.3%

Brisbane
44.1%

Richmond
42.3%

West Coast
40.4%