March 24, 2026

AFL Predictions for Week 4

Team Ratings for Week 4

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 31.57 26.06 5.50
Hawthorn Hawks 21.12 22.83 -1.70
Brisbane Lions 20.96 26.20 -5.20
Geelong Cats 20.94 26.75 -5.80
Gold Coast Suns 16.95 10.24 6.70
Adelaide Crows 16.69 15.32 1.40
Fremantle Dockers 10.22 6.56 3.70
Collingwood 9.49 11.76 -2.30
Sydney Swans 8.70 0.56 8.10
GWS Giants 5.47 9.54 -4.10
Melbourne Demons -0.33 1.64 -2.00
St Kilda Saints -5.07 -7.63 2.60
Carlton Blues -9.58 -4.77 -4.80
Port Adelaide Power -14.75 -14.65 -0.10
North Melbourne -20.58 -21.71 1.10
Richmond Tigers -30.85 -29.44 -1.40
Essendon Bombers -32.15 -27.89 -4.30
West Coast Eagles -36.80 -39.36 2.60

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 21 matches played, 14 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 66.7%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Hawthorn Hawks vs. Sydney Swans Mar 19 99 – 82 24.80 TRUE
2 Adelaide Crows vs. Western Bulldogs Mar 20 88 – 94 -3.40 TRUE
3 Richmond Tigers vs. Gold Coast Suns Mar 21 60 – 128 -31.30 TRUE
4 GWS Giants vs. St Kilda Saints Mar 21 74 – 78 26.10 FALSE
5 Fremantle Dockers vs. Melbourne Demons Mar 21 118 – 70 16.80 TRUE
6 Port Adelaide Power vs. Essendon Bombers Mar 22 133 – 70 22.30 TRUE
7 West Coast Eagles vs. North Melbourne Mar 22 111 – 94 -9.20 FALSE

 

Predictions for Week 4

Here are the predictions for Week 4. 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 Geelong Cats vs. Adelaide Crows Mar 26 Geelong Cats 15.20
2 Collingwood vs. GWS Giants Mar 27 Collingwood 15.00
3 St Kilda Saints vs. Brisbane Lions Mar 28 Brisbane Lions -15.00
4 Fremantle Dockers vs. Richmond Tigers Mar 28 Fremantle Dockers 52.10
5 Essendon Bombers vs. North Melbourne Mar 28 North Melbourne -11.60
6 Port Adelaide Power vs. West Coast Eagles Mar 29 Port Adelaide Power 33.10
7 Carlton Blues vs. Melbourne Demons Mar 29 Melbourne Demons -9.20

 

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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 »

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