MUCH has been written and said in recent days about which key forwards seem to be getting a rough deal from the umpires.

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley kicked off the discussion after the Magpies' narrow loss to Richmond on Sunday, when he stated that Travis Cloke "dead set gets nothing from the umps".

On Tuesday, however, the Herald Sun revealed that when you look at the free kicks awarded to and against key forwards since the start of the 2011 season, Cloke has not done too badly at all.

In that time, Cloke has received 106 free kicks and has given 109 away.

Star Cats forward Tom Hawkins, who Buckley believes gets a better run than Cloke, has received 96 free kicks and given away 87 during the same period.

So Hawkins has been better off over four and a bit seasons, but it's a close-run thing.

But what about this year? As the Herald Sun detailed, "Tomahawk is actually worse off, having received five frees and given eight away for an overall tally of -3.

"Cloke has received six more frees, but given five more away for a -2 record."

The free kicks stats for Cloke and Hawkins point us in the direction of a much greater discrepancy that has so far slipped under the radar.

When it comes to the number of free kicks paid to each club inside its forward 50, the Cats are gettin' nothin'.

So far in 2015, Geelong has received just nine free kicks inside forward 50. That's an average of 1.3 per game.

In contrast, the Cats given away 31 free kicks inside forward 50, which is an average of 4.4 per game.

Compare that to Collingwood, which has received 18 free kicks inside forward 50 and has given away 21.

Below is a table of the differentials for free kicks inside each club's forward 50 this season.