AFL Premiership Betting Tips 2026 | Predictions & Previews for Every Team

The Lions have the best midfield depth, and win games even when they’re “meh”. If they stay reasonably healthy, and minus more offseason headlines – they’ll finish top-two on cruise control.

The picking up Charlie Curnow is a massive inclusion for the Swans, and really what they were lacking in 2025. With Gulden and Chad hitting him on the tit week in, week out – they’ll be first half of 2024 scary.

Adelaide were a disappointment in the finals last year, but I’m tipping they’ve matured enough in the offseason to do more than just bully weak sides, and to keep their head level in tight games – mainly under sledging conditions.

The Dockers will be hungry to go again this year, after a heartbreaking loss to the Suns in pretty much the only decent finals game last year. They were solid in the back half of the year, and their best 22 is largely unchanged.

The Dogs have arguably the best list on paper, and the best captain, and would be a travesty if they don’t show some promise with it. If they learn to actually play the first 3/4 of the game, instead of just chasing tail aggressively in the last quarter – they’ll finish high.

Never a doubt of Geelong finishing in the Top 6. Although the Lions absolutely pantsed them in the Granny, Geelong are just always a force and Chris Scott always knows how to bring out the best of his players. However, I can see them slightly plateauing this year, while other teams will rise.

The Suns are well past being cute contenders and are now a serious threat. They stepped up past the hurdle of them not winning away from home last year, and have recruited Trac and Ugle-Hagan. While Trac should slide in nicely, Ugle-Hagan might be a wildcard – but we all know the potential is there.

The Hawks still have that annoying smug confidence where they play like they’ve got four Brownlows each. But they also have weeks where the kids remember they’re kids. Merrett would’ve brought some solid on-field leadership, so the volatile emotions may still be plenty. Also, injury prone Will Day is already out for half the season – and the Hawks are much better with him.

The Giants will belt someone by 60, then lose an easy win game. The talent is top-four level, the week-to-week discipline is much less than that. However, they are also mostly list unchanged, with the inclusion of Clarry who’s been given a lifeline- and first looks are that he is making the most of that opportunity.

The Saints are taking their chance at buying a Premiership, and while they will definitely win a few extra games and have their painful supporters come out of the woods for a few more wins – I don’t see them changing the world just yet.

North are the slowest improving team of all time, and this is about time they push through to the next stage, or their stars may start losing interest. Still, this feels like another season of competitive losses rather than consistent wins. They’ll push good sides, then fall away when the game tightens.

The Tiges are well and truly in rebuild mode, and I think this will be a good year to bask in them being average, before they start to dominate in a few years time. They’re get it over and done with approach to this should be studied by some of the teams below. Also exciting to watch a few of their youngins blossom more, especially Dusty 2.0.

The Port basically have a free pass this year to trial some new players and positions, and work out how to attack this rebuild which everyone is expecting will happen – but Kochy refuses to bring any attention to.

The Eagles will be better than recent years, but not good enough to escape the bottom half. Hopefully there’ll be some good signs over in the West with Harley reaching potential and seeing what the number one Duursma has to offer.

Some of the old man Pies have left the building, and not much has reentered in their wake. While priding themselves as a plug and play team, going by their form at the end of the season and with the exits, I think that phrase will need to add pray onto the end of it.

The main thing Essendon can do this year, is let the players play games only, and don’t let them anywhere near that cursed eyesore on Melrose Drive. With Nic Martin already on the end of season injury list – it’s going to be another long year.

The Blues will also be at the bottom end, and not that I think they are inferior to Essendon – but going by the Ladder Predictor this is where I have them ending up, as they do have a tougher draw. And with the mass exodus of stars including Curnow and TDK – it’ll take some trial and error to see where their inclusions will pick up the pieces.

The Dee’s are in for a tough year at the start of their rebuild, after losing their dynamic midfield for the past decade in Clarry and Trac. Their major pick ups are veterans with only a year or so left in them with Mihocek and Steele – but they will certainly offer some guidance for the youngins coming in, and definitely contribute to this rebuild.