BigFooty AFL Power Rankings – Rd 6, 2026

After Rd 6, here’s how the model sees the competition.

📊 Current Rankings

Rank Team Rating Prev Move
1 ↑ Hawthorn 1695 2 +1
2 ↑ Geelong 1686 4 +2
3 ↓ Brisbane Lions 1682 1 -2
4 ↑ Sydney 1648 6 +2
5 → Fremantle 1643 5 0
6 ↓ Western Bulldogs 1608 3 -3
7 → Adelaide 1607 7 0
8 → Collingwood 1576 8 0
9 → Gold Coast 1558 9 0
10 → Greater Western Sydney 1514 10 0
11 ↑ Melbourne 1448 12 +1
12 ↓ St Kilda 1426 11 -1
13 ↑ North Melbourne 1403 14 +1
14 ↓ Port Adelaide 1395 13 -1
15 → Carlton 1353 15 0
16 → Essendon 1306 16 0
17 → West Coast 1247 17 0
18 → Richmond 1205 18 0

📈 Biggest Movers

  • 🔼 Geelong (+2)
  • 🔼 Sydney (+2)
  • 🔼 Hawthorn (+1)
  • 🔽 Western Bulldogs (-3)
  • 🔽 Brisbane Lions (-2)
  • 🔽 St Kilda (-1)

Geelong is the biggest riser this week, climbing 2 places. Western Bulldogs slides the most, dropping 3 places from last week.

🎯 Predicted Top 4

  1. Hawthorn
  2. Geelong
  3. Brisbane Lions
  4. Sydney

The model’s current projected top four is Hawthorn, Geelong, Brisbane Lions (not much between Cats and Lions, though) and Sydney. Hawthorn hold top spot with a rating edge of 9.8 points over Geelong.

⚖️ Ladder vs Power Rankings

  • Underrated by ladder position: Brisbane Lions (ladder 9, power 3), Geelong (ladder 6, power 2), Greater Western Sydney (ladder 14, power 10).
  • Power rankings are putting mayo on: North Melbourne (ladder 5, power 13), Gold Coast (ladder 4, power 9), Sydney (ladder 1, power 4).

👀 State of Play

  • Hawthorn remain number one in the model after 18 teams were ranked this week.
  • Fremantle round out the top five and remain firmly in the finals-quality zone of the table.
  • The strongest upward move belongs to Geelong, who rise 2 places on the back of this week’s results.
  • The biggest fall belongs to Western Bulldogs, down 3 places compared to the previous round.

🔢 How it works

  • Elo-style rating system
  • Every team starts from a base rating
  • Ratings adjust based on win/loss, expected result and margin
  • Home ground advantage is included
  • Previous-season ratings are carried forward and regressed toward average

📅 Notes

  • Opening Round is treated as Round 0
  • Updated weekly after the final game of each completed round