May 19, 2026

AFL Predictions for Week 12

Team Ratings for Week 12

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 28.48 26.75 1.70
Sydney Swans 20.78 0.56 20.20
Brisbane Lions 19.79 26.20 -6.40
Hawthorn Hawks 15.89 22.83 -6.90
Fremantle Dockers 15.62 6.56 9.10
Adelaide Crows 11.54 15.32 -3.80
Gold Coast Suns 10.65 10.24 0.40
Collingwood 10.22 11.76 -1.50
Western Bulldogs 9.85 26.06 -16.20
Melbourne Demons 3.97 1.64 2.30
St Kilda Saints 0.91 -7.63 8.50
GWS Giants -3.61 9.54 -13.20
Carlton Blues -5.61 -4.77 -0.80
Port Adelaide Power -6.99 -14.65 7.70
North Melbourne -13.75 -21.71 8.00
Essendon Bombers -26.37 -27.89 1.50
Richmond Tigers -39.51 -29.44 -10.10
West Coast Eagles -39.85 -39.36 -0.50

Performance So Far

So far there have been 90 matches played, 66 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 73.3%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Brisbane Lions vs. Geelong Cats May 14 76 – 117 9.80 FALSE
2 Sydney Swans vs. Collingwood May 15 81 – 75 24.40 TRUE
3 Gold Coast Suns vs. Port Adelaide Power May 15 98 – 73 16.00 TRUE
4 Adelaide Crows vs. North Melbourne May 16 133 – 65 30.70 TRUE
5 Melbourne Demons vs. Hawthorn Hawks May 16 120 – 81 -20.70 FALSE
6 Carlton Blues vs. Western Bulldogs May 16 74 – 62 -20.40 FALSE
7 Essendon Bombers vs. Fremantle Dockers May 17 61 – 104 -28.70 TRUE
8 St Kilda Saints vs. Richmond Tigers May 17 109 – 73 41.40 TRUE
9 West Coast Eagles vs. GWS Giants May 17 88 – 71 -32.60 FALSE

Predictions for Week 12

Here are the predictions for Week 12. 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 Hawthorn Hawks vs. Adelaide Crows May 21 Hawthorn Hawks 15.30
2 Richmond Tigers vs. Essendon Bombers May 22 Essendon Bombers -13.10
3 Fremantle Dockers vs. St Kilda Saints May 22 Fremantle Dockers 25.70
4 North Melbourne vs. Gold Coast Suns May 23 Gold Coast Suns -13.40
5 Geelong Cats vs. Sydney Swans May 23 Geelong Cats 18.70
6 Collingwood vs. West Coast Eagles May 23 Collingwood 61.10
7 Port Adelaide Power vs. Carlton Blues May 23 Port Adelaide Power 9.60
8 GWS Giants vs. Brisbane Lions May 24 Brisbane Lions -12.40
9 Western Bulldogs vs. Melbourne Demons May 24 Western Bulldogs 5.90
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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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