April 21, 2026

AFL Predictions for Week 8

Team Ratings for Week 8

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
Geelong Cats 25.06 26.75 -1.70
Brisbane Lions 22.02 26.20 -4.20
Western Bulldogs 20.59 26.06 -5.50
Hawthorn Hawks 20.25 22.83 -2.60
Sydney Swans 19.33 0.56 18.80
Fremantle Dockers 12.95 6.56 6.40
Adelaide Crows 12.56 15.32 -2.80
Gold Coast Suns 9.73 10.24 -0.50
Collingwood 7.16 11.76 -4.60
GWS Giants 4.07 9.54 -5.50
Melbourne Demons -1.46 1.64 -3.10
St Kilda Saints -2.87 -7.63 4.80
Carlton Blues -10.18 -4.77 -5.40
Port Adelaide Power -12.27 -14.65 2.40
North Melbourne -13.45 -21.71 8.30
Essendon Bombers -21.38 -27.89 6.50
Richmond Tigers -40.01 -29.44 -10.60
West Coast Eagles -40.10 -39.36 -0.70

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 54 matches played, 39 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 72.2%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Carlton Blues vs. Collingwood Apr 16 83 – 88 -19.70 TRUE
2 Geelong Cats vs. Western Bulldogs Apr 17 131 – 56 5.30 TRUE
3 Sydney Swans vs. GWS Giants Apr 17 107 – 66 23.50 TRUE
4 Gold Coast Suns vs. Essendon Bombers Apr 18 119 – 110 48.00 TRUE
5 Hawthorn Hawks vs. Port Adelaide Power Apr 18 89 – 86 50.60 TRUE
6 Adelaide Crows vs. St Kilda Saints Apr 18 103 – 102 31.00 TRUE
7 North Melbourne vs. Richmond Tigers Apr 19 130 – 55 18.20 TRUE
8 Melbourne Demons vs. Brisbane Lions Apr 19 104 – 102 -15.20 FALSE
9 West Coast Eagles vs. Fremantle Dockers Apr 19 41 – 97 -52.40 TRUE

 

Predictions for Week 8

Here are the predictions for Week 8. 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 Western Bulldogs vs. Sydney Swans Apr 23 Western Bulldogs 12.30
2 Richmond Tigers vs. Melbourne Demons Apr 24 Melbourne Demons -33.60
3 Hawthorn Hawks vs. Gold Coast Suns Apr 25 Hawthorn Hawks 21.50
4 Essendon Bombers vs. Collingwood Apr 25 Collingwood -23.50
5 Port Adelaide Power vs. Geelong Cats Apr 25 Geelong Cats -26.30
6 Fremantle Dockers vs. Carlton Blues Apr 25 Fremantle Dockers 34.10
7 St Kilda Saints vs. West Coast Eagles Apr 26 St Kilda Saints 48.20
8 Brisbane Lions vs. Adelaide Crows Apr 26 Brisbane Lions 20.50
9 GWS Giants vs. North Melbourne Apr 26 GWS Giants 28.50

 

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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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