August 25, 2026

AFL Predictions for Finals Week 1

Team Ratings for Finals Week 1

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
Brisbane Lions 24.44 26.20 -1.80
Sydney Swans 23.04 0.56 22.50
Fremantle Dockers 22.75 6.56 16.20
Geelong Cats 22.64 26.75 -4.10
Hawthorn Hawks 16.57 22.83 -6.30
Adelaide Crows 14.94 15.32 -0.40
Melbourne Demons 10.76 1.64 9.10
Carlton Blues 7.61 -4.77 12.40
Western Bulldogs 4.92 26.06 -21.10
Collingwood 3.18 11.76 -8.60
GWS Giants -0.48 9.54 -10.00
Gold Coast Suns -1.87 10.24 -12.10
St Kilda Saints -3.24 -7.63 4.40
North Melbourne -10.83 -21.71 10.90
Port Adelaide Power -18.07 -14.65 -3.40
West Coast Eagles -33.36 -39.36 6.00
Richmond Tigers -33.74 -29.44 -4.30
Essendon Bombers -37.26 -27.89 -9.40

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 207 matches played, 147 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 71%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 St Kilda Saints vs. Gold Coast Suns Aug 20 80 – 103 15.40 FALSE
2 Collingwood vs. Brisbane Lions Aug 21 96 – 159 -1.20 TRUE
3 Adelaide Crows vs. GWS Giants Aug 22 157 – 101 21.20 TRUE
4 Carlton Blues vs. Fremantle Dockers Aug 22 119 – 82 -11.30 FALSE
5 Geelong Cats vs. Richmond Tigers Aug 22 133 – 76 69.70 TRUE
6 Melbourne Demons vs. Western Bulldogs Aug 22 87 – 108 10.60 FALSE
7 Essendon Bombers vs. Port Adelaide Power Aug 23 95 – 104 -8.00 TRUE
8 Sydney Swans vs. North Melbourne Aug 23 123 – 70 43.10 TRUE
9 West Coast Eagles vs. Hawthorn Hawks Aug 23 45 – 107 -34.80 TRUE

 

Predictions for Finals Week 1

Here are the predictions for Finals Week 1. 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. Collingwood Aug 28 Western Bulldogs 1.70
2 Melbourne Demons vs. Carlton Blues Aug 29 Melbourne Demons 3.10

 

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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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