July 21, 2026

AFL Predictions for Week 21

Team Ratings for Week 21

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
Fremantle Dockers 26.06 6.56 19.50
Geelong Cats 22.46 26.75 -4.30
Brisbane Lions 19.08 26.20 -7.10
Hawthorn Hawks 18.29 22.83 -4.50
Adelaide Crows 18.12 15.32 2.80
Sydney Swans 13.93 0.56 13.40
Melbourne Demons 7.61 1.64 6.00
GWS Giants 5.43 9.54 -4.10
Collingwood 5.16 11.76 -6.60
Western Bulldogs 4.77 26.06 -21.30
St Kilda Saints 1.63 -7.63 9.30
Gold Coast Suns -4.02 10.24 -14.30
Carlton Blues -6.08 -4.77 -1.30
Port Adelaide Power -6.17 -14.65 8.50
North Melbourne -14.40 -21.71 7.30
West Coast Eagles -29.12 -39.36 10.20
Essendon Bombers -33.55 -27.89 -5.70
Richmond Tigers -37.21 -29.44 -7.80

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 162 matches played, 116 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 71.6%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 Geelong Cats vs. St Kilda Saints Jul 16 102 – 75 32.90 TRUE
2 Sydney Swans vs. Adelaide Crows Jul 17 71 – 87 10.90 FALSE
3 Port Adelaide Power vs. Fremantle Dockers Jul 18 75 – 103 -19.70 TRUE
4 North Melbourne vs. Melbourne Demons Jul 18 76 – 92 -23.30 TRUE
5 Collingwood vs. Carlton Blues Jul 18 90 – 69 9.10 TRUE
6 West Coast Eagles vs. Brisbane Lions Jul 18 69 – 93 -39.70 TRUE
7 Richmond Tigers vs. Hawthorn Hawks Jul 19 52 – 122 -52.80 TRUE
8 Gold Coast Suns vs. Western Bulldogs Jul 19 68 – 77 4.70 FALSE
9 Essendon Bombers vs. GWS Giants Jul 19 67 – 64 -33.50 FALSE

 

Predictions for Week 21

Here are the predictions for Week 21. 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 Adelaide Crows vs. Collingwood Jul 23 Adelaide Crows 24.00
2 Melbourne Demons vs. Geelong Cats Jul 24 Geelong Cats -3.80
3 Fremantle Dockers vs. West Coast Eagles Jul 24 Fremantle Dockers 55.20
4 Carlton Blues vs. Gold Coast Suns Jul 25 Carlton Blues 8.90
5 Hawthorn Hawks vs. Essendon Bombers Jul 25 Hawthorn Hawks 51.80
6 GWS Giants vs. Sydney Swans Jul 25 GWS Giants 2.50
7 Western Bulldogs vs. Richmond Tigers Jul 25 Western Bulldogs 42.00
8 Brisbane Lions vs. Port Adelaide Power Jul 26 Brisbane Lions 36.20
9 North Melbourne vs. St Kilda Saints Jul 26 St Kilda Saints -16.00

 

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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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