March 31, 2026

AFL Predictions for Week 5

Team Ratings for Week 5

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
Brisbane Lions 22.36 26.20 -3.80
Hawthorn Hawks 21.12 22.83 -1.70
Geelong Cats 20.28 26.75 -6.50
Adelaide Crows 17.34 15.32 2.00
Gold Coast Suns 16.95 10.24 6.70
Fremantle Dockers 10.94 6.56 4.40
Collingwood 10.89 11.76 -0.90
Sydney Swans 8.70 0.56 8.10
GWS Giants 4.07 9.54 -5.50
Melbourne Demons 0.91 1.64 -0.70
St Kilda Saints -6.47 -7.63 1.20
Carlton Blues -10.81 -4.77 -6.00
Port Adelaide Power -17.39 -14.65 -2.70
North Melbourne -20.54 -21.71 1.20
Richmond Tigers -31.57 -29.44 -2.10
Essendon Bombers -32.19 -27.89 -4.30
West Coast Eagles -34.16 -39.36 5.20

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 28 matches played, 20 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 71.4%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Geelong Cats vs. Adelaide Crows Mar 26 68 – 60 15.20 TRUE
2 Collingwood vs. GWS Giants Mar 27 87 – 54 15.00 TRUE
3 St Kilda Saints vs. Brisbane Lions Mar 28 80 – 113 -15.00 TRUE
4 Fremantle Dockers vs. Richmond Tigers Mar 28 103 – 43 52.10 TRUE
5 Essendon Bombers vs. North Melbourne Mar 28 69 – 81 -11.60 TRUE
6 Port Adelaide Power vs. West Coast Eagles Mar 29 90 – 92 33.10 FALSE
7 Carlton Blues vs. Melbourne Demons Mar 29 77 – 100 -9.20 TRUE

 

Predictions for Week 5

Here are the predictions for Week 5. 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 Brisbane Lions vs. Collingwood Apr 02 Brisbane Lions 22.50
2 North Melbourne vs. Carlton Blues Apr 03 Carlton Blues -9.70
3 Adelaide Crows vs. Fremantle Dockers Apr 03 Adelaide Crows 17.40
4 Richmond Tigers vs. Port Adelaide Power Apr 04 Port Adelaide Power -3.20
5 West Coast Eagles vs. Sydney Swans Apr 04 Sydney Swans -31.90
6 Melbourne Demons vs. Gold Coast Suns Apr 05 Gold Coast Suns -5.00
7 Western Bulldogs vs. Essendon Bombers Apr 05 Western Bulldogs 63.80
8 Hawthorn Hawks vs. Geelong Cats Apr 06 Hawthorn Hawks 11.80

 

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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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