Round predictions

Updated 2026-05-25.

St Kilda v Hawthorn
28 May @ Docklands
+19 HGA
−4 Elo rating +106
37.24% Win prob. (Elo) 62.76%
25.2 xSS 25.9
47.06% Win prob. (xSS) 52.94%
14.46 Team elite tier 24.20
24.68 Team standard 25.30
10.89 Team subpar tier 7.56
35.08% Win prob. (TiCo) 64.92%
7.3 Forward strength 3.8
7.0 Midfield strength 4.1
6.7 Ruck strength 3.9
7.2 Backline strength 3.7
62.70% Win prob. (Chain) 37.30%
45.61% Win prob. (Ensemble) 54.39%
Hawthorn by 2 points.

Upset potential: High.

Carlton v Geelong
29 May @ M.C.G.
+28 HGA
−25 Elo rating +177
26.82% Win prob. (Elo) 73.18%
25.4 xSS 29.4
25.20% Win prob. (xSS) 74.80%
19.00 Team elite tier 21.28
28.62 Team standard 29.61
6.75 Team subpar tier 6.01
45.85% Win prob. (TiCo) 54.15%
3.6 Forward strength 5.1
3.9 Midfield strength 2.7
3.4 Ruck strength 2.5
3.4 Backline strength 5.3
45.30% Win prob. (Chain) 54.70%
18.33% Win prob. (Ensemble) 81.67%
Geelong by 14 points.

Upset potential: Medium.

Sydney v Richmond
30 May @ S.C.G.
+95 HGA
+122 Elo rating −241
93.33% Win prob. (Elo) 6.67%
22.8 xSS 20.3
68.89% Win prob. (xSS) 31.11%
22.14 Team elite tier 16.28
28.07 Team standard 24.61
6.40 Team subpar tier 9.88
66.53% Win prob. (TiCo) 33.47%
3.9 Forward strength 3.4
5.0 Midfield strength 3.7
6.5 Ruck strength 3.6
4.4 Backline strength 3.8
55.30% Win prob. (Chain) 44.70%
97.80% Win prob. (Ensemble) 2.20%
Sydney by 30 points.

Upset potential: Low.

Brisbane v Fremantle
30 May @ Gabba
+133 HGA
+94 Elo rating +122
64.71% Win prob. (Elo) 35.29%
30.1 xSS 25.2
69.29% Win prob. (xSS) 30.71%
19.73 Team elite tier 20.00
27.87 Team standard 26.24
7.97 Team subpar tier 8.57
50.71% Win prob. (TiCo) 49.29%
4.1 Forward strength 7.9
3.6 Midfield strength 7.7
4.1 Ruck strength 7.6
2.6 Backline strength 7.0
31.90% Win prob. (Chain) 68.10%
62.96% Win prob. (Ensemble) 37.04%
Brisbane by 5 points.

Upset potential: High.

Footscray v Collingwood
30 May @ Docklands
+19 HGA
+35 Elo rating +29
53.69% Win prob. (Elo) 46.31%
28.2 xSS 24.0
74.50% Win prob. (xSS) 25.50%
15.88 Team elite tier 15.56
27.49 Team standard 31.38
9.17 Team subpar tier 7.11
41.99% Win prob. (TiCo) 58.01%
3.8 Forward strength 4.1
4.9 Midfield strength 2.2
3.9 Ruck strength 4.4
4.2 Backline strength 4.0
48.60% Win prob. (Chain) 51.40%
62.81% Win prob. (Ensemble) 37.19%
Footscray by 5 points.

Upset potential: High.

Melbourne v GWS
31 May @ Traeger Park
+41 HGA
+16 Elo rating +14
56.14% Win prob. (Elo) 43.86%
25.0 xSS 25.1
50.96% Win prob. (xSS) 49.04%
22.90 Team elite tier 20.12
23.11 Team standard 27.12
8.65 Team subpar tier 7.08
45.43% Win prob. (TiCo) 54.57%
8.4 Forward strength 4.5
7.7 Midfield strength 6.4
7.9 Ruck strength 5.1
8.3 Backline strength 5.1
64.90% Win prob. (Chain) 35.10%
65.73% Win prob. (Ensemble) 34.27%
Melbourne by 7 points.

Upset potential: High.

West Coast v Essendon
31 May @ Perth Stadium
+111 HGA
−234 Elo rating −167
56.37% Win prob. (Elo) 43.63%
17.6 xSS 17.4
50.30% Win prob. (xSS) 49.70%
12.74 Team elite tier 13.82
26.10 Team standard 27.24
10.84 Team subpar tier 9.70
46.54% Win prob. (TiCo) 53.46%
6.8 Forward strength 2.7
7.2 Midfield strength 3.6
7.4 Ruck strength 2.7
7.7 Backline strength 2.9
69.30% Win prob. (Chain) 30.70%
67.44% Win prob. (Ensemble) 32.56%
West Coast by 7 points.

Upset potential: High.

Tips are based on five models:

  1. A team rating model (Elo) that tracks performance over time. 1,500 is the league average Elo rating. Home ground advantage (HGA) represents (a) the difference in experience between the two teams at the game’s venue for the current season and the two before, and (b) how far the teams have to travel to the venue, penalising long distance travel.
  2. An expected scoring shots model (xSS) that predicts each team’s scoring shots based on past offensive and defensive performance, and uses the difference between teams to estimate win percent.
  3. A tiered contribution model (TiCo) that assesses the difference in how well elite (top 25%) players, standard players, and subpar (bottom 25%) players perform between teams. A higher standard provides more support for the elite players, and a larger and worse subpar tier is a drag on team performance. The numbers represent the amount, in performance scores, that that tier contributes to the team’s overall performance. A greater share of performance from the higher tiers is desirable.
  4. A chain model that models chains of play where each ‘link’ is a contest between the teams: for example, home ruck wins ⇒ away midfield wins, kicks forward ⇒ home defense wins, kicks to midfield ⇒ … This uses the relative line strengths, which are built up from predicting individual player performance, minus those on the injury list.
  5. An ensemble that uses the four above models to give an overall estimate.

Season predictions

Number of wins per team
Based on 1,000 simulations, from round 11, 2026.
Team Average Minimum Maximum
Fremantle 17 14 21
Sydney 17 14 21
Geelong 16 12 19
Brisbane 14 11 18
Hawthorn 14 11 18
Gold Coast 13 10 17
Adelaide 13 9 17
Melbourne 13 9 17
Footscray 12 8 15
Collingwood 11 8 16
St Kilda 11 7 15
GWS 10 6 14
N. Melbourne 8 5 13
Port Adelaide 8 5 13
Carlton 7 4 12
West Coast 6 3 10
Essendon 5 2 9
Richmond 3 1 7
Ladder finish probabilities
Based on 1,000 simulations, from round 11, 2026.
Minor prem. Top 4 Top 6 Wildcard Bottom 4 Wooden spoon
Fremantle 37% 85% 94% 5% 0% 0%
Sydney 32% 84% 96% 4% 0% 0%
Geelong 18% 69% 87% 12% 0% 0%
Hawthorn 6% 54% 74% 22% 0% 0%
Brisbane 4% 41% 69% 26% 0% 0%
Adelaide 2% 16% 39% 45% 0% 0%
Gold Coast 1% 16% 36% 44% 0% 0%
Melbourne 1% 13% 35% 46% 1% 0%
St Kilda 0% 6% 16% 42% 6% 0%
Footscray 0% 8% 23% 45% 1% 0%
Collingwood 0% 8% 24% 48% 1% 0%
GWS 0% 1% 5% 25% 14% 0%
N. Melbourne 0% 0% 1% 12% 30% 1%
Port Adelaide 0% 0% 1% 14% 30% 0%
Carlton 0% 0% 1% 7% 46% 3%
West Coast 0% 0% 0% 1% 85% 12%
Essendon 0% 0% 0% 1% 88% 22%
Richmond 0% 0% 0% 0% 98% 62%

Season projections are based on projecting each team’s Elo rating.