July 15, 2025

AFL Predictions for Week 20

Team Ratings for Week 20

The basic method is described on my Department home page.
Here are the team ratings prior to this week’s games, along with the ratings at the start of the season.

Current Rating Rating at Season Start Difference
Western Bulldogs 22.37 18.20 4.20
Adelaide Crows 21.38 2.69 18.70
Geelong Cats 19.76 15.04 4.70
Collingwood 19.41 5.39 14.00
Brisbane Lions 17.55 22.65 -5.10
Hawthorn Hawks 14.61 21.95 -7.30
GWS Giants 8.84 9.08 -0.20
Gold Coast Suns 8.02 -6.41 14.40
Fremantle Dockers 6.08 5.99 0.10
Sydney Swans 3.33 12.60 -9.30
Melbourne Demons -0.36 -0.21 -0.20
Port Adelaide Power -3.50 7.63 -11.10
St Kilda Saints -6.65 0.89 -7.50
Carlton Blues -8.46 5.01 -13.50
Essendon Bombers -21.62 -10.15 -11.50
North Melbourne -25.41 -37.08 11.70
West Coast Eagles -33.43 -34.67 1.20
Richmond Tigers -34.32 -31.00 -3.30

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 152 matches played, 101 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 66.4%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Carlton Blues vs. Brisbane Lions Jul 10 66 – 103 -11.20 TRUE
2 Gold Coast Suns vs. Collingwood Jul 11 69 – 63 -2.40 FALSE
3 Western Bulldogs vs. Adelaide Crows Jul 12 98 – 109 15.90 FALSE
4 GWS Giants vs. Geelong Cats Jul 12 111 – 85 -4.30 FALSE
5 Richmond Tigers vs. Essendon Bombers Jul 12 46 – 37 -16.50 FALSE
6 Fremantle Dockers vs. Hawthorn Hawks Jul 12 77 – 64 0.40 TRUE
7 Melbourne Demons vs. North Melbourne Jul 13 119 – 83 22.90 TRUE
8 St Kilda Saints vs. Sydney Swans Jul 13 87 – 92 2.90 FALSE
9 Port Adelaide Power vs. West Coast Eagles Jul 13 87 – 61 43.70 TRUE

 

Predictions for Week 20

Here are the predictions for Week 20. The prediction is my estimated expected points difference with a positive margin being a win to the home team, and a negative margin a win to the away team.

Game Date Winner Prediction
1 Essendon Bombers vs. GWS Giants Jul 17 GWS Giants -19.50
2 Brisbane Lions vs. Western Bulldogs Jul 18 Brisbane Lions 6.20
3 Hawthorn Hawks vs. Port Adelaide Power Jul 19 Hawthorn Hawks 29.10
4 Sydney Swans vs. North Melbourne Jul 19 Sydney Swans 39.70
5 Carlton Blues vs. Melbourne Demons Jul 19 Melbourne Demons -8.10
6 West Coast Eagles vs. Richmond Tigers Jul 19 West Coast Eagles 11.90
7 Geelong Cats vs. St Kilda Saints Jul 20 Geelong Cats 37.40
8 Collingwood vs. Fremantle Dockers Jul 20 Collingwood 24.30
9 Adelaide Crows vs. Gold Coast Suns Jul 20 Adelaide Crows 24.40

 

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David Scott obtained a BA and PhD from the Australian National University and then commenced his university teaching career at La Trobe University in 1972. He has taught at La Trobe University, the University of Sheffield, Bond University and Colorado State University, joining the University of Auckland, based at Tamaki Campus, in mid-1995. He has been Head of Department at La Trobe University, Acting Dean and Associate Dean (Academic) at Bond University, and Associate Director of the Centre for Quality Management and Data Analysis at Bond University with responsibility for Short Courses. He was Head of the Department of Statistics in 2000, and is a past President of the New Zealand Statistical Assocation. See all posts by David Scott »