say two months ago it \u201cjust doesn\u2019t feel like Geelong has it this year\u201d<\/a>. We would like to apologise for being the least sympathetic fan type possible – the Cats Doomer who is never satisfied despite their team making the top four every year forever. (It definitely wasn\u2019t an attempt at a reverse jinx. Nope. Defs not.) Now we\u2019re propelling the Cats to the top of these rankings, off the back of arguably the best two weeks any club has had in 2026 – smashing Brisbane in Brisbane, then stifling Sydney. Throw in the early-season Fremantle win, and remember how close the Hawthorn game was (decided by a point thanks to a last-second goalmouth panic play), and the Cats have the best resume in the league. Yes, better than Fremantle\u2019s, who as we\u2019ll explain later aren\u2019t as impressive as the pure win-loss record suggests. This is why the Power Rankings exist basically – the Dockers are flag favourites and top of the ladder… but the eye test, and many of the underlying numbers, tell us the Cats are playing better than everyone else. There\u2019s a massive chance we get made to look stupid on Friday night though, because as fans will recall, there\u2019s nothing surer in recent Geelong seasons than a random loss to Carlton at the MCG.<\/p>\nThis week: Carlton at the MCG, Friday 7:40pm<\/p>\n
Scott praises Cats defence in Swans win | 11:44<\/p>\n
2. SYDNEY SWANS (9-2, 142.5%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 1st, lost to Geelong by 27 pts<\/p>\n
They were due a stumble and in our view the Swans have done enough to warrant remaining above the Dockers, though it would be fair to argue the opposite – they haven\u2019t had a comfortable win in over a month. The one thing that worries us is Dean Cox\u2019s side has been outcoached in its two defeats, with the Hawks and Cats both halting their brilliant ball movement and potentially giving other teams a blueprint to do the same. Most teams just won\u2019t be talented enough to repeat it while also posting a winning score themselves – and keep in mind the Swans still have eight games left against the bottom eight. They\u2019re going to make the top four. So unless things really fall apart, they\u2019re going to reach the pointy end of the season, where their season will be defined either way.<\/p>\n
This week: Richmond at the SCG, Saturday 1:15pm<\/p>\n
Cox regrets Swans’ inefficiency | 05:21<\/p>\n
3. FREMANTLE (10-1, 135.5%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 2nd, def St Kilda by 30 pts<\/p>\n
Two things can be true. Thing one: Fremantle is the most likely team to make the Grand Final. Not just because they\u2019re on top of the ladder, but because they\u2019ve got seven more games in WA (including Geelong and Sydney coming west), and combined with winnable road trips they look bound for at least 16 or 17 wins. That makes them the most likely top-two finisher, at which point they\u2019d only need to win two home games in September (and their home ground advantage is very solid), giving them the clearest path to the decider. Thing two: Fremantle is not quite as good as their win-loss record and flag favouritism suggest. We\u2019re not saying they\u2019re bad; they\u2019re very good and definitely a top-four side! But they are not beating teams as convincingly as they should be, and this 10-game winning streak has come against mostly middling opposition. Their best win this year is over Hawthorn, at home by 15 points; very solid. What\u2019s their second-best win though? Either the Bulldogs away (solid, not spectacular)\u2026 or the Demons when they weren\u2019t yet dangerous, or the Crows or Magpies by a kick. Simply put, we have more faith in Geelong getting it done in September, and have been more impressed with Sydney\u2019s best footy; that\u2019s why the Dockers are third. They need another scalp to prove they\u2019re what the ladder says they are – and beating Brisbane in Brisbane would definitely count.<\/p>\n
This week: Brisbane at the Gabba, Saturday 4:15pm<\/p>\n
Longmuir lauds fast finishing Freo | 10:58<\/p>\n
4. HAWTHORN (7-3-1, 110.4%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 5th, def Adelaide by 9 pts<\/p>\n
They simply had to halt their losing skid – the Pies and Dockers games where they could\u2019ve easily taken eight points, but took two, followed by the Demons faceplant – and they remain unbeaten in close games this year. It keeps them in the top four and in our top tier of contenders; suddenly things are feeling very 2013 with the Hawks, Dockers, Swans and Cats fighting at the top. They\u2019ll be hoping for a repeat result from that year, obviously. If you still feel like they\u2019re a midfielder away, they\u2019re about to regain an elite one, with Will Day looking good in his heavily managed VFL outing last Friday night. And keep in mind the Hawks don\u2019t play any of the teams above them again this season… it\u2019s not an easy draw, but they\u2019ve definitely gotten through the hardest part.<\/p>\n
This week: St Kilda at Marvel Stadium, Thursday 7:30pm<\/p>\n
Mitchell talks coaches box meltdown! | 09:31<\/p>\n
5. BRISBANE LIONS (6-5, 106.6%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 4th, lost to GWS by 78 pts<\/p>\n
There is currently a top tier of premiership contenders and the Lions aren\u2019t in it. That\u2019s not just about the third quarter on Sunday – the aberration of all aberrations – but it has made their already pedestrian defensive numbers look even worse. You can cruise through the home and away season all you like but if you\u2019re in a terrible position come September, it probably doesn\u2019t matter; and while we\u2019d be surprised if they finished lower than 8th (they\u2019re definitely better than the teams below them), the 7th\/8th wildcard zone is primed to catch out a good team. Brisbane is the only team we would believe can win five straight finals for a flag, but they might have to at this rate. Lose to the Dockers this week and they\u2019ll be totally average – 6-6 with a percentage around 100, and replaced in the top eight by the winner of Saturday night\u2019s Dogs-Pies game. Yes, they came from lower on the ladder (13th at midseason) to win the 2024 flag but you can\u2019t rely on repeating an incredible exception. The most likely scenario, in our view, has the Lions getting their act together – maybe even beating Fremantle after a week of reflection, and in fact we\u2019re planning on tipping them. It could easily be their turning point moment, like they had in 2024 when they dropped to 4-1-6. We still believe in this team. But that was a bad fortnight; their worst since… losing to Geelong and GWS in consecutive weeks in early 2024, funnily enough.<\/p>\n
This week: Fremantle at the Gabba, Saturday 4:15pm<\/p>\n
Fagan: “Nothing we tried worked!” | 07:25<\/p>\n
6. GOLD COAST SUNS (7-4, 116.9%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 6th, lost to North Melbourne by 6 pts<\/p>\n
One of just two clubs who didn\u2019t move in this week\u2019s rankings, we\u2019re keeping the Suns in sixth almost by default – they haven\u2019t given us enough reasons to drop them, but they\u2019re certainly not giving us any reasons to move higher. Keep in mind after their dominant Opening Round win over Geelong (and that whole round feels like it was from another season), they\u2019ve only beaten the teams sitting 18th, 17th, 16th, 14th, 12th and 11th. Other than the bad Kangaroos loss on Saturday, they\u2019ve done exactly what they need to do against the bad teams, and now Damien Hardwick has the bye to figure out how to get them playing better against the best.<\/p>\n
This week: BYE<\/p>\n
Hardwick laments Suns late collapse | 05:05<\/p>\n
7. ADELAIDE CROWS (6-5, 107.9%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 8th, lost to Hawthorn by 9 pts<\/p>\n
The Crows hit the bye not quite in no man\u2019s land – we\u2019re pretty confident they\u2019ll play finals – but their misfortune in close games is going to cost them any chance of a repeat top-four appearance. They\u2019re already lost more tight ones in 2026 than they did throughout 2025, when they went 5-3 along with wins by 13, 13 and 14 points; that\u2019s not the only reason they\u2019re mid-table but it\u2019s a key factor. Though if you want to take a glass half-full view, they\u2019ve only had one bad game all year, the loss to Brisbane at the Gabba.<\/p>\n
This week: BYE<\/p>\n
‘Need to be careful of my language…’ | 06:58<\/p>\n
8. WESTERN BULLDOGS (6-5, 92.8%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 9th, def Melbourne by 3 pts<\/p>\n
They\u2019re in pure survival mode at the moment. If Harvey Langford doesn\u2019t drop that mark with 30 seconds left, the Demons win. Instead, the Bulldogs claimed their fourth win by a goal or less this season – it must be nice for Doggies fans to know luck has been on their side, for once. We\u2019re not saying the win was undeserved, to be clear; they were the better side on the day. That in itself is a reminder this team is still talented, despite all the doom and gloom after the Carlton loss. Keep in mind the Bulldogs have already played against (ladder positions) 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th – beating the latter three and losing to the first four when they were at their most injured. You\u2019d think that means their fixture eases up from here… for some reason, it doesn\u2019t. As it stands the Bulldogs will finish the season having played 13 games against the top eight, one off the maximum.<\/p>\n
This week: Collingwood at Marvel Stadium, Saturday 7:35pm<\/p>\n
Bevo full of praise for Dogs after win | 10:50<\/p>\n
9. MELBOURNE (7-4, 106.7%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 7th, lost to Western Bulldogs by 3 pts<\/p>\n
For long periods on Sunday afternoon, they just didn\u2019t look like the Demons we\u2019ve come to know and love this year, so it\u2019s fitting that an unfortunate skill error in the last 30 seconds cost them the game. They were due a come-down loss after that brilliant win over Hawthorn and, because everyone around them on the ladder also lost, the Dees are still inside the top six halfway through the season. That\u2019s pretty wild. We still have them as favourites in their next three games, against the Giants, Pies and Bombers… they could be inside the top four at the end of that run. Though we think it\u2019s more likely they\u2019ll continue to have ups and downs.<\/p>\n
This week: GWS Giants at TIO Traeger Park, Sunday 3:15pm<\/p>\n
King: ‘They were harder for longer’ | 07:41<\/p>\n
10. ST KILDA (5-6, 108.2%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 11th, lost to Fremantle by 30 pts<\/p>\n
On this week\u2019s Fox Footy Podcast we gave the Saints a mid-season grade of C+. They\u2019re almost exactly where we expected, but there\u2019s definitely something positive going on at Moorabbin. They took it up to the Dockers for three quarters and having been scoring pretty well all year, despite the ongoing Max King-sized hole in their forward line and some underperforming recruits – most notably Tom De Koning who has been… fine. (Which isn\u2019t what you expect for a guy on his pay packet.) The upside, if everything goes right with injuries and form, is a wildcard team that can threaten the top six but they\u2019re not a true contender. And anyone who thought they were going to be was fooling themselves.<\/p>\n
This week: Hawthorn at Marvel Stadium, Thursday 7:30pm<\/p>\n
Lyon confused by Voss’ tactics on Wilkie | 06:31<\/p>\n
11. COLLINGWOOD (5-5-1, 100.3%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 10th, def West Coast by 10 pts<\/p>\n
A tighter-than-you\u2019d-like win over the Eagles keeps the Magpies as mid as possible – a completely balanced record with just three more points scored than allowed – but they\u2019re going to have even more trouble scoring after the heartbreaking Jamie Elliott injury. They still feel fated for an interstate wildcard final win where they pull something out of their backsides but things are going to get a little tricky from here, with the Saints, Giants and Kangaroos below them all showing positive signs. On the plus side Scott Pendlebury is now just three seasons away from breaking Craig Bradley\u2019s record for the most senior games (501, a figure that includes the SANFL plus Origin and international games).<\/p>\n
This week: Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium, Saturday 7:35pm<\/p>\n
McRae lavishes praise on Pendlebury | 10:35<\/p>\n
12. GWS GIANTS (5-6, 98.6%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 13th, def Brisbane by 78 pts<\/p>\n
Everyone tipped Brisbane on Sunday, forgetting that it was time for the yearly \u2018GWS Upsets Brisbane While Kicking Really Straight\u2019 game. Per the ABC, that third term was the most aberrant goalkicking quarter of at least the past decade – in terms of expected score – which makes sense. Very few teams win by 80 points without kicking very straight. Goalkicking isn\u2019t why they won but it\u2019s quite bizarre how the Giants have been underperforming on expected score all year… and then do THAT to the reigning premiers. It has to give them some confidence they can still pull it all together and compete for at least the wildcard spots. This week\u2019s opponent Melbourne is exactly the sort of team they need to be knocking out of the top 10, making it one of the biggest games of the Giants\u2019 season.<\/p>\n
This week: Melbourne at TIO Traeger Park, Sunday 3:15pm<\/p>\n
Kingsley: “That needs to be our level!” | 10:22<\/p>\n
13. NORTH MELBOURNE (5-6, 97.6%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 14th, def Gold Coast by 6 pts<\/p>\n
Remarkably, that was North Melbourne\u2019s first win against a team from outside the bottom six since Round 18, 2022… also a day where Cam Zurhaar kicked the match-winner (after Richmond kicked 11.22). They needed an upset like that to keep the wildcard dream alive, and now after the Kangaroos\u2019 bye and \u2018home\u2019 game against Fremantle, they get four massive opportunities in a row. Beat West Coast, Richmond, Essendon and Port Adelaide and the Roos will well and truly be in the finals race. 10 wins may be enough for a wildcard in an aberrant season, with 11 wins giving you around a 50-50 shot, and 12 wins likely to be enough. The Kangaroos could – probably should – be on nine wins with seven games left…<\/p>\n
This week: BYE<\/p>\n
Clarkson speaks on epic comeback | 15:52<\/p>\n
14. PORT ADELAIDE (3-8, 100.9%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 12th, lost to Carlton by 34 pts<\/p>\n
It probably wasn\u2019t the weirdest loss of the weekend, because Brisbane gave up 14 goals in a quarter, but we were almost more surprised by Port Adelaide losing to Carlton. The Power have certainly been better than their record, beating Geelong while losing four games by a combined eight points (three of them against finals contenders). The 10-week sample size which says they\u2019re sneaky good means more than one really bad night, but it\u2019s still immensely frustrating when you\u2019re in that position – it makes those coulda-shoulda wins especially punishing. If we were being cynical we would suggest the Power are doing an incredible job of looking kinda good while not actually winning games, in a year where having a higher draft pick is very important to them. They\u2019re obviously not doing it intentionally… but it\u2019s kinda the best-case scenario in the big picture.<\/p>\n
This week: BYE<\/p>\n
Carr rips into slack Power | 07:44<\/p>\n
15. CARLTON (3-8, 86.1%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 15th, def Port Adelaide by 34 pts<\/p>\n
Two games isn\u2019t exactly a trend, but it means something, and the Blues clearly look and feel different under Josh Fraser. It leaves them in a bit of a weird spot – they want to look interesting for coach candidates, and they\u2019re definitely better than the Eagles, Tigers and Bombers trio. But they also want to be as high in the draft as possible for Cody Walker reasons. They\u2019re unlikely to end up higher than 14th but there\u2019s a potentially costly points difference between picks 3 and 5 (the equivalent of a late second-rounder). We know fans and players alike just want to win games of footy, but this is the sort of stuff their list management types will be thinking about all year.<\/p>\n
This week: Geelong at the MCG, Friday 7:40pm<\/p>\n
Fraser: “It’s fun winning!” | 09:44<\/p>\n
16. WEST COAST EAGLES (3-8, 66.1%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 17th, lost to Collingwood by 10 pts<\/p>\n
Apparently there was a second team out there on Saturday, who knew? It\u2019s been an excellent fortnight from the Eagles, continuing to show promise for the future, which is all you can really expect from this season. Can they continue to renew through the second half of the season? You wonder about guys like Liam Duggan, who from our brief glimpses into West Coast Twitter (what a scary place that can be) has become a major question mark. At one stage against the Pies he burned three teammates on the open side for a horrendous bombed kick inside 50, summing up their wasteful day (and his kicking this season). Either way they head into Sunday night as favourites, and beating Essendon will make it basically impossible for the Eagles to claim the wooden spoon. (Because there\u2019s no way the Tigers and Bombers will both join them on four wins.)<\/p>\n
This week: Essendon at Optus Stadium, Sunday 7:20pm<\/p>\n
McQualter: “Saw growth in our players” | 08:27<\/p>\n
17. RICHMOND (2-9, 64.5%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 18th, def Essendon by 18 pts<\/p>\n
Given how bad they\u2019ve had it, the Tigers will take every bit of luck they can get – and Essendon losing multiple players early in one of their last truly winnable games for the year was certainly a stroke of luck. In a frustrating year where they\u2019ve seen too many players in their future plans limited by injury, they needed some positivity. Patrick Retschko, who was voted best on ground by two judges yet lost the Yiooken Award to a player who wasn\u2019t voted best on ground by one, is a definite green shoot. Always nice when you can get a handy player for a sixth-round pick, given that the sixth round of the AFL Draft doesn\u2019t really exist. (Seriously. That\u2019s what they gave Geelong for him. The AFL Draft is so weird.)<\/p>\n
This week: Sydney at the SCG, Saturday 1:15pm<\/p>\n
‘You feel for Brad and Essendon’ | 10:40<\/p>\n
18. ESSENDON (1-10, 70.9%)<\/p>\n
Last week: Ranked 16th, lost to Richmond by 18 pts<\/p>\n
Facing an absolute must-win game to keep the vibes from getting toxic, the Bombers found the one way to escape full scrutiny: multiple early injuries. Because while Richmond clearly came into the game dealing with more issues, 22 or 23 fit players are going to beat 19 or 20 fit-but-arguably-more-talented ones on most nights. So it\u2019s a disastrous loss with an excuse. Here\u2019s the thing with Essendon though… everyone agrees they\u2019re not supposed to be good. Are we theoretically sacking Brad Scott because they\u2019ve won one game instead of, say, four? The entire message from the club over the last 18 months has been pleading for patience as the rebuild gets going – this is the time you REALLY need that patience. If anything, being a truly bad team and potentially landing Pick 1 in the draft is better than what happened to the early Scott teams, who kept winning enough games to miss out on truly elite draft picks. We have no clue whether Scott is the long-term solution but moving on him now is what Old Essendon would do, and they can\u2019t keep being Old Essendon… because being Old Essendon got them into this mess. (Side note: There was a column elsewhere on Sunday night arguing the Dons should even ask for assistance from the AFL; that\u2019s absurd. They were 6-4 this time last year, having won 11 games in consecutive seasons before that, and then had a historically bad injury run which made the rest of 2025 effectively irrelevant for analysis purposes. 2026 has absolutely been very bad, but even if you\u2019re including the second half of last year, you cannot possibly hand out draft picks because of a bad 12 months.)<\/p>\n
This week: West Coast at Optus Stadium, Sunday 7:20pm<\/p>\n
I’d describe us as a dormant superpower | 07:22<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back to the Power Rankings. There\u2019s a new AFL flag favourite, but it\u2019s not who you might…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-694275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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