Whether you're into flutters, fantasy footy or anything inbetween, here are six predictions you ought to consider for this weekend's action.
Geelong v Brisbane (Friday, 7:40pm AEST)
Tears of joy will be shed across Kardinia Park on Friday night as the city of Geelong hails one of its favourite adopted sons.
Dangerfield’s 196th game for the Cats and 350th in the league should give the Cats plenty of extra energy in a game where motivation won’t be short to come by, particularly as they could open up a six-point gap over the Lions with victory here.
Brisbane haven’t been as bad as their back-to-back losses may suggest and Chris Fagan often finds a way of sparking them back into their best form after brief periods of trouble and, with the hoodoo of 13 straight losses in Geelong hanging over their heads, they should be super hungry to stand up here.
It’s also worth noting they’ve covered the line in each of their last 12 games as an outsider, which is why we’re expecting a close game whilst taking out some insurance for a narrow Brisbane win.
The red-hot Brownlow Medal favourite Bailey Smith is on a six-game streak of 30+ disposals after 41 against Essendon and 38 against West Coast, and whilst there’ll never be any ‘overs’ in backing him in disposal markets as a popular favourite, he’s still a sound pick for same game multis if you shop around for the best odds.
Match prediction: Either team by under 24.5 points
Player prediction: Bailey Smith 30+ disposals - 1.63 @ Unibet
Port Adelaide v Sydney (Saturday, 4:15pm AEST)
Port Adelaide and Sydney meet for the first time since Round 6, when the Power came out as eight-point winners at the SCG.
They bring into the rematch with the Swans a home ground advantage that propelled them to victory over the likes of Melbourne, North Melbourne and Hawthorn in recent weeks, whilst they were overcome by top-four sides Adelaide and Geelong at the Adelaide Oval during that same period.
Port are on a two-game winning streak, conceding just 118 points across those two games, whilst Sydney have been well short of constructing shock wins across the season as illustrated by their 1-6 record in 2025 as underdogs.
A 44-point win over Richmond hides the fact the Tigers had more scoring shots and should have made Sydney work much harder for the four points.
Following his career-best bag of seven last week, four of Mitch Georgiades’ six 3+ goal hauls have taken place at the Adelaide Oval. Let’s back him to do it again.
Match prediction: Port Adelaide to win
Player prediction: Mitch Georgiades 3+ goals
Western Bulldogs v Richmond (Sunday, 3:20pm AEST)
Richmond were thrashed by Sydney last week thanks to a meagre return of 4.12 and can’t afford such inefficiency against the league’s second-most accurate goalkickers (Bulldogs 52.1%).
The Tigers have been given a 48.5 point head start and we’re expecting that won’t be enough given how the Bulldogs have been treating the worst clubs in the competition of late, with winning margins of 72 (St Kilda), 91 (Essendon), 90 (Port Adelaide) and 71 (St Kilda) amongst their 6-1 record as favourites.
The Tigers tend to lose big as well, being one of just three clubs to have seen at least half of their defeats in 2025 come with a 40+ point margin, whilst they failed to cover the line in a league-high 77% of all fixtures.
It’s hard to make a case for them getting anywhere near a top-eight contender after being outclassed by Sydney, Essendon and North Melbourne and so we’ll be recommending the Bulldogs at the line.
Aaron Naughton was still amongst the goals last week despite Sam Darcy’s return to full forward and has booted three goals on six separate occasions.
On top of that, he kicked at least three in five of his last six H2Hs, demonstrating an affinity for Richmond defenders.
Match prediction: Western Bulldogs -48.5 points
Player prediction: Aaron Naughton 3+ goals
