AFL 2026, Power Rankings after Round 6

Welcome back to the Power Rankings.

It’s suddenly feeling very 2014 in the AFL, with five of the same top six on the current ladder as we saw that season – though hopefully a potential Grand Final rematch is more like 2012…

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See our ranking of every AFL club from best to worst after Round 6 below!

How do the Power Rankings work? We take wins and losses into account, but also the quality of opposition faced and whether teams are likely to get healthier and/or improve going forward. It’s a little bit ‘who’s hot and who’s not’; part predictive, part analysis of what’s happened. If Team A is above Team B, we’d probably tip A to win if they were playing at a neutral venue this weekend.

All times AEST.

1. HAWTHORN (5-1, 118.2%)

Last week: Ranked 1st, def Port Adelaide by 3 pts

We’re not going to overreact to one game and drop the Hawks out of top spot – even though it was pretty bizarre seeing them struggle to beat a bottom-six side playing interstate. These things happen though; good teams play bad games. While we’re not going to read into that too much (we don’t think it says anything about their mentality, or whatever cliche you want to run with; they had no impact on Mitch Georgiades happening to miss a set shot) banking those wins can be the difference between making the top four and missing it. Now if they can just get key players to stop hitting opponents and getting suspended for games against fellow top-four contenders, that’d be great. (We have no patience for gut punches. They’re dumb acts. Don’t be dumb.)

This week: Gold Coast at UTAS Stadium, Saturday 12:30pm

2. SYDNEY SWANS (5-1, 173.3%)

Last week: Ranked 4th, def GWS by 41 pts

A few weeks ago, we had the Swans all the way down in 9th… which was clearly wrong. But that in itself is a reminder of how quickly things can change. At that time they were coming off a loss to Hawthorn that was much worse than the 17-point margin suggested, and then their bye. The immediate evidence was that losing Errol Gulden was going to do serious damage to their incredible ball movement and lowered their ceiling. With another three games of evidence, it’s clear that’s not the case, with the likes of Justin McInerney and Nick Blakey in early All-Australian contention. Of the top 25 players in the AFL who’ve played at least five games so far (per the Player Ratings), the Swans have five – McInerney, Blakey, Warner, Grundy and Heeney. Only one other club has more than two (bizarrely, Melbourne, with Steele up there with Gawn and Pickett).

This week: Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium, Thursday 7:30pm

3. BRISBANE LIONS (3-3, 111.7%)

Last week: Ranked 2nd, lost to Melbourne by 2 pts

That was exactly what we were talking about last week, with the whole ‘Brisbane doesn’t seem to, or need to, care as much about the home and away season’ idea. Ideally they would still be beating a team like Melbourne though if you consider the Demons as a high-ceiling, low-floor mid-table side (rather than the pre-season perception as a bottom six certainty) it makes a bit more sense. Being two games and percentage behind the ladder leaders already isn’t ideal… but also, it’s Round 6. It’s fine. They’re fine.

This week: Adelaide at the Gabba, Sunday 3:15pm

4. FREMANTLE (5-1, 142.7%)

Last week: Ranked 5th, def West Coast by 56 pts

Banking wins and building percentage – that’s all you can do when you’re a contender against teams you should absolutely be beating. It also would’ve been a nice change-up for Freo fans, getting to enjoy a pretty comfortable second half of the Derby after the dramatics against Adelaide and Collingwood. They’re in a great position, but it’s fair to point out they haven’t played a top-tier contender since Round 1. They should take care of business against the Blues and then get a pair of perfect tests – the injury-hit Bulldogs at Marvel and Hawthorn at home… two tricky games where they’re likely to be slight favourites. We’re keen for those.

This week: Carlton at Optus Stadium, Saturday 8:15pm

5. GEELONG (4-2, 116.1%)

Last week: Ranked 7th, def Western Bulldogs by 75 pts

Well, ever since we declared how down we were on Geelong, they nearly beat our No.1 team, comfortably dealt with West Coast and then smashed a like type. So that reverse jinx is working perfectly. We wouldn’t say that margin was fully reflective of the true talent gap between the Cats and the Dogs, but it was a very helpful percentage boost for Chris Scott’s men as they chase the likes of Sydney and Fremantle. Having played five likely finalists in their first six games, Geelong’s very tough fixture eases up slightly over the next fortnight – though no trip to Adelaide Oval can be simple, and their ensuing the opponent the Kangaroos are better than they’ve been for a while. Still, the Cats should be sitting 6-2 heading into a showdown with Collingwood.

This week: Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, Saturday 6:35pm

6. WESTERN BULLDOGS (4-2, 102%)

Last week: Ranked 3rd, lost to Geelong by 75 pts

As a pure result, the loss to Geelong was disappointing but understandable, given their absences both pre- and mid-game. Tim English is clearly structurally vital, and whenever a coach is describing a game as “traumatic”, you can kinda throw it out as an outlier. But the Sam Darcy injury is a massive blow to the Bulldogs’ ceiling as a flag contender. Nobody should be saying they can’t win the flag, unless they lived in a cave in the 2010s when Geelong won without Ablett, Hawthorn won without Buddy and West Coast won without Nic Nat – all better players than Darcy. But since his emergence as a best 23 mainstay the Bulldogs have had the best attack in the game, and his presence turns Aaron Naughton into an A-grader because of the flow-on match-up effects. They may still have a very good attack but their path to a premiership was having an elite one combined with an average-ish defence; the Dogs are now, pardon the pun, neutered.

This week: Sydney at Marvel Stadium, Thursday 7:30pm

7. GOLD COAST SUNS (4-2, 126.9%)

Last week: Ranked 6th, def Essendon by 9 pts

The optimism from the first month of the season has evaporated. While the Bombers have clearly improved over the last few weeks – and we weren’t expecting Gold Coast to repeat last year’s Round 24 cakewalk – that’s still three disappointing games in a row for Damien Hardwick’s men. It is becoming a pattern and in particular, allowing Essendon to score 110 points is pretty damning. We would be pretty surprised if they upset Hawthorn this weekend, and then comes a Giants side who they basically never beat… could they be 4-4?

This week: Hawthorn at UTAS Stadium, Saturday 12:30pm

8. ADELAIDE CROWS (3-3, 105.3%)

Last week: Ranked 8th, def St Kilda by 1 pt

It doesn’t make up for all the times a decision has gone against Adelaide in recent seasons, but a somewhat generous holding the ball call against Sam Flanders helped the Crows to a much-needed win on Saturday night. Not just needed because of the ladder – Matthew Nicks’ men have to be beating St Kilda at home if they’re going to make the top six – but because of the tragic week the club had just gone through. No neutral fan could begrudge that playing group getting some joy back into their lives. Hopefully Jordan Dawson is doing OK and can get back to footy soon; he’d be a much-needed inclusion for arguably the best rivalry of the last few seasons nobody talks about – Crows vs Lions.

This week: Brisbane at the Gabba, Sunday 3:15pm

9. COLLINGWOOD (3-3, 94.8%)

Last week: Ranked 9th, def Carlton by 5 pts

They played the hits on Thursday night, with Jamie Elliott powering a comeback win over the arch enemy at the MCG, but it was still the type of performance that proved the Magpies are a mid-table side right now. We don’t mind the idea of Nick Daicos spending more time forward given the most damaging players in the AFL are those half-and-half Heeney or Bontempelli types; they certainly need something and while he’s pretty irreplaceable in any role, it’s pretty clear the Pies don’t have forward line solutions without him. Whereas they might be able to cobble together a midfield with less Nick.

This week: Essendon at the MCG, Saturday 3:20pm

10. MELBOURNE (4-2, 94.2%)

Last week: Ranked 11th, def Brisbane by 2 pts

No team has a wider gap between their best and worst at the moment, as showcased by Melbourne following up a limp loss to Essendon with an electric win over Brisbane. Right now, hiring Steven King looks like an absolute masterstroke, with the totally new game style combining beautifully with the cultural reset. They also appear to play the MCG beautifully, which helps! We’re still so annoyed we had the Demons as low as we did on our predicted ladder coming into the year – Pythagoras knew they’d improve! – but at least they’re proving him right. As we said after the Gold Coast upset, the Dees will have some bad days this year (as immediately showcased against the Dons), but they already have surpassed almost everyone’s expectations. We’re not quite sure where the list build is going – they’re probably a few years away from actual contention, particularly given they’ll eventually need to replace Max Gawn – but that’s a future problem.

This week: Richmond at the MCG, Friday 7:40pm

11. GWS GIANTS (2-4, 86.8%)

Last week: Ranked 10th, lost to Sydney by 41 pts

Our gut reaction when we see Giants vs Kangaroos on the fixture is ‘well, of course the Giants win that’. And we still think they will, even considering their injury list, which is only now starting to shrink. We believe their poor performances against the Bulldogs, Magpies and Swans can all be heavily explained as a consequence of those absences. But there is absolutely the possibility Sunday evening is a defining game of this season – where the Giants unfortunately show they’re just too far off the contenders, and/or the Kangaroos prove they are a genuine top 10 chance.

This week: North Melbourne at Manuka Oval, Sunday 4:40pm

12. ST KILDA (2-4, 92.6%)

Last week: Ranked 12th, lost to Adelaide by 1 pt

Ross Lyon gets a bit more combative than warranted during his press conferences, but he was totally right on Saturday night when he said “if you take out win-loss, we’ve improved”. They have continued on from some brave performances against good sides late last season, and have been in every game this year. Their fixture has been difficult; we think they’re good enough to make the top 10. The problem is you can be good enough but still miss out, even with the wildcard expansion, because they keep losing to teams who are likely to inhabit the same portion of the ladder to them – Collingwood, Melbourne and now Adelaide. When we have the full context of the season it’s likely those will be considered eight-pointers. It places more pressure on the Saints in their should-win games, two of which are coming up against West Coast and Carlton. Dropping either of them would mean, given how tricky their fixture gets at midseason, they’d be unlikely to have a winning record any time soon.

This week: West Coast at Marvel Stadium, Sunday 1:10pm

13. NORTH MELBOURNE (4-2, 120.8%)

Last week: Ranked 13th, def Richmond by 75 pts

The Kangaroos right now are the perfect example of why you shouldn’t look at the ladder after Round 6. That’s not a criticism of their performance; they have won four of the five winnable games they were given to start the season, and were valiant in the sixth against Brisbane. Yes, they’re sitting 5th, and that’s very exciting. The draw itself is the problem; they’ve played the five worst teams in the league. You can only beat the teams in front of you, and they were excellent against Richmond – but the teams in front of them have been bad (and they lost to West Coast mind you!). So from an analytical perspective if you’re saying the Kangaroos are anything better than ‘best of the worst’, there just isn’t the evidence to support that yet. They need to beat mid-table sides like the current, injury-hit Giants, to prove it. We are mindful they still get to play West Coast, Richmond, Essendon and Port Adelaide again, so there’s absolutely a path to 10 or 11 wins and wildcard contention, but it would be heavily influenced by their draw.

This week: GWS at Manuka Oval, Sunday 4:40pm

14. PORT ADELAIDE (2-4, 108.1%)

Last week: Ranked 15th, lost to Hawthorn by 3 pts

This week: Geelong at Adelaide Oval, Saturday 6:35pm

15. CARLTON (1-5, 79.2%)

Last week: Ranked 14th, lost to Collingwood by 5 pts

This week: Fremantle at Optus Stadium, Saturday 8:15pm

While the Blues have been more consistently competitive – they were playing 22 against 23 on Thursday night, and were still a metre or two away from beating Collingwood – we have to give the Power credit for nearly knocking off our No.1 seed on the road, and so they move up. While the win-loss records may not reflect it, especially for the Blues, these teams are settling into being roughly what we expected; not actual finals contenders but not bottom-four quality either. It will be hard to find yourself in no man’s land when 10 teams make the eight… but we suspect at least one of these clubs will be sitting there with six rounds left going ‘well, none of these games really matter!’

16. ESSENDON (1-5, 79.1%)

Last week: Ranked 17th, lost to Gold Coast by 9 pts

They’re too far gone to actually make anything of this season, but the Bombers’ last 10 quarters have been very encouraging, and they’re rising into that region of the ladder their list suggests they should inhabit – bad, but not terrible. When their leaders play as well as they did against Gold Coast, they should be competitive against average teams and/or good teams having a bad day. The Magpies, then, are gettable. Likewise GWS in a couple of weeks’ time (though that’s interstate so it’s tougher). And between Rounds 11 and 13, when the Bombers play Richmond, West Coast and Carlton, they should be winning at least two out of three.

This week: Collingwood at the MCG, Saturday 3:20pm

17. WEST COAST EAGLES (2-4, 61.3%)

Last week: Ranked 16th, lost to Fremantle by 56 pts

Yeah, that sounds about right – a few flashes of competitiveness but eventually the Eagles were overrun in the Derby by a genuine contender. We’re sure West Coast fans would’ve loved an early 2024-style ‘wtf was that Freo???’ upset but the Dockers are a level above that now. On the plus side our boy Jobe Shanahan took another Mark of the Round contender and, as a scoreline of 5.11 suggests, the margin was a little bit harsher than warranted. With three months of development until the next Derby, the Eagles should be eyeing that game to measure their progress.

This week: St Kilda at Marvel Stadium, Sunday 1:10pm

18. RICHMOND (0-6, 53.6%)

Last week: Ranked 18th, lost to North Melbourne by 75 pts

The margin against the Kangaroos was roughly reflective of the game – which is bad news. You may think the Tigers’ inaccuracy is heavily to blame but this column’s favourite coach, The Expected Score Respecter Adem Yze, would know better. There is a difference between kicking less accurately than you should have, and kicking less accurately period. When the Tigers kicked 1.7 in the first quarter for example, they were performing a bit under expectation… but they were also taking a lot of low-quality shots. So their poor start was more about either the Kangaroos forcing them into bad positions or the Tigers taking difficult options.

This week: Melbourne at the MCG, Friday 7:40pm