THE 2026 season will finish with a non-Victorian top four, according to AFL.com.au‘s experts, while St Kilda has been backed to sneak into a wildcard spot ahead of Collingwood.
This week, we asked AFL.com.au‘s team of nine experts for their predictions for the upcoming season, including their predicted 1-18 ladder.
Combining the nine predicted ladders by averaging out positions, Brisbane is the clear favourite to finish top in 2026, ahead of Fremantle, Sydney and Gold Coast.
Should that predicted top four come to fruition, it would be the first time in two decades that the top four teams have all been from outside Victoria.
Two more non-Victorian clubs – Adelaide and Greater Western Sydney – have been backed to fill two of the wildcard spots, along with Hawthorn and St Kilda, with Geelong and Western Bulldogs backed to finish in the top six.
It means Collingwood and Carlton have both missed out, while West Coast was a unanimous choice to finish last.
Are you brave enough to do the ladder predictor for all 207 games this home-and-away season? Click here to try.
AFL.com.au‘s 2026 predicted ladder
1) Brisbane
2) Fremantle
3) Sydney
4) Gold Coast
5) Geelong
6) Western Bulldogs
7) Adelaide
8) Hawthorn
9) St Kilda
10) Greater Western Sydney
11) Collingwood
12) Carlton
13) Port Adelaide
14) Melbourne
15) Essendon
16) North Melbourne
17) Richmond
18) West Coast
