Round 5 AFLW Tips 2026 | SGM Bets & Predictions

Hawthorn came crashing back to earth against Adelaide. After looking very good for a couple of weeks, the Hawks were beaten up around the ground and never really got going.

The Bulldogs went the other way, producing their best win of the season against Sydney. They absorbed plenty of pressure, then completely took over late and looked seriously good doing it.

The Dogs look the more settled side right now and should get the job done.

Gold Coast is becoming one of the better stories of the season. The Suns backed up their strong showing against Geelong by going to Alberton and just sneaking past Port in a scrappy one.

Collingwood showed a bit more fight against Carlton, but the Pies were still comfortably beaten and continue to make scoring look painfully difficult.

At home, Gold Coast should have too much run and class.

Adelaide finally looked like Adelaide again. The Crows went to Hawthorn’s new home, controlled the game from the start and gave the Hawks a proper touch-up.

Geelong is also flying after recovering from its opening-round demolition. The Cats have put together a strong run and their midfield is looking dangerous every week.

This is one of the toughest games of the round. Adelaide at home gets the slightest nod from Jimmy, but The Machine is siding with the Cats.

West Coast actually showed some fight against Melbourne and even had the Demons under a bit of pressure early. Unfortunately, Melbourne then woke up and started piling on goals for fun.

Brisbane responded nicely after getting smashed by Melbourne the week before, comfortably taking care of GWS at home. It wasn’t vintage Lions stuff, but they looked much more like themselves.

The trip west is never ideal, but Brisbane should still be far too strong.

Melbourne looks frightening at the moment. West Coast actually jumped them early before the Demons decided that was enough nonsense and completely tore the game apart through the middle stages.

Port has been hard to trust. They nearly threw away the GWS game and then managed just one goal in a frustrating loss to Gold Coast.

Casey Fields against this Melbourne side is about as unpleasant an assignment as AFLW currently offers. The Demons should flog them.

Richmond’s promising start has hit a bit of a wall. The Tigers were completely outworked by Fremantle last week and never looked likely once the Dockers got their pressure game going.

St Kilda has bigger problems. North Melbourne absolutely belted them and the Saints are still struggling badly to create enough scoring opportunities.

Richmond should bounce back and win this comfortably enough.

Sydney finally tasted defeat after the Bulldogs ran over the top of them late. It wasn’t a disaster by any means, but it was the first time this season the Swans looked genuinely vulnerable for a long stretch.

GWS continues to compete much better than last year, although Brisbane eventually had too much class. The Giants are no longer an automatic flogging, which is progress.

The derby should be competitive, but Sydney has far more weapons and should bounce back.

This is the game of the round.

North Melbourne annihilated St Kilda and continues to look completely ridiculous. Their forward line basically did whatever it wanted and the winning streak somehow keeps getting more absurd.

Carlton is also flying and has looked cleaner, deeper and more dangerous every week. This is easily their biggest test of the season, but tipping against North right now requires a fairly heroic disregard for evidence.

Fremantle produced its best performance of the season against Richmond. The Dockers brought serious pressure, looked dangerous going forward and were comfortably the better side.

Essendon started well against Geelong but couldn’t keep it going once the Cats found another gear. The Bombers have had decent patches all season, but decent patches are not getting them many wins.

Back in Perth, Fremantle should be too strong.