Almanac Footy – Season 2026: Nostradamus George has gazed into his crystal ball
Nostradamus has looked into the Crystal Ball for 2026, rating each teams backs, forwards, mids and rucks. I think there are only six teams that can realistically win the flag.
Brisbane, Gold Coast and Fremantle have the most complete lists in the competition. Brisbane has improved their list from last year which is scary since they are back to back premiers. Gold Coast too are better than last year while Fremantle is the strongest list across all areas. Luke Jackson as an Adam Goodes type mid could become the move of the year.
Western Bulldogs probably have the best ruck/mid combination in the league but how their defence holds up may well decide how well they go. I am not convinced that their attack will hold up against the best teams. Their game against Brisbane in opening round was effectively won by their mids.
The Swans showed how they can move the ball against the Blues. If all of their stars stay on the park for the season they can easily be there on the last day of the season.
GWS is another team that will once again show it is a serious contender. Whether it is up to the quality of the other five teams I rate as premiership chances is yet to be seen. I am not convinced their ruck in Briggs is up to what the other main contenders have (stay tuned for my article on the importance of the ruck position in the heat of finals).
The next tier of teams from 6-10 are Adelaide, Geelong, Hawthorn and Collingwood. I don’t think they can realistically challenge for the flag this year. Of this group, only Adelaide is the team I think could finish in the top six if injuries hit one of the top teams I have ranked in the top six. When I saw them last year, I thought there were no obvious weaknesses in any of their lines and their forward line is potentially the best in the League. Geelong went hard for Rowan Marshall in the off season and had they been able to get him would have been up there challenging the top six. Hawthorn struggled against Brisbane last year and missing Day will hurt them deeply. Collingwood rely on too few players to carry them and their aging list compounded last year. It is difficult to see them standing up for the whole season.
St Kilda missed three goals from twenty metres out almost directly in front against the Pies which cost them the win. They looked a middle of the road team like the ies. If they sneak into the top ten it will be a good season for them.
Carlton, the other team from opening round, played a completely different style to last year. They were assisted by so many clangers from Sydney in the first half but I liked the effort and don’t think their loss was as bad as others may, especially against Sydney, potentially a top four team. What was really of concern was the same old issue from last season – the inability to stop it when another team gets a run on. If they cannot find a way to fix this then it will be a long season for the blues.
Port Adelaide has too many good players to fall too low but whether they can recover from the Hinkley succession plan year last year is another question. I expect them to finish in the 11-14 range this year.
I am bullish on the Bombers list but for where they may go in the future not in 2026. Last year, they blooded a lot of youngsters and most of these looked like they belong on an AFL list. That Zach Merrett wanted to leave at the end of last season suggests that they are a few years from contending.
Melbourne supporters must be still crying after opening round, seeing Petracca and Oliver playing so well, but at the Suns and Giants respectively. The Demons are an unknown quantity but it will be a likely be a long season with hope for the future. A sad end to a team which looked invincible after their 2020 flag for the first half of 2021 when injuries ruined their title defence.
The question over North Melbourne is really when will their AFLW team finally lose a game. So many high draft picks and so long in their climb up the ladder. Something akin to Carlton’s situation. With a young team improvement can come quickly but it will be a surprise if they finish higher than 16th.
Richmond moved on premiership players two years ago and went to the draft in a serious way after 2024. They look to have a good crop of youngsters but may need a few more seasons to seriously contend for finals.
The easiest team to pick is West Coast. Clearly the favourite to finish last, they will be looking to win more than one game this year.
My Ladder:
Brisbane
Gold Coast
Fremantle
Western Bulldogs
Sydney Swans
GWS
Geelong
Hawthorn
Adelaide
Collingwood
St Kilda
Carlton
Port Adelaide
Essendon
Melbourne
North Melbourne
Richmond
West Coast
Finally, it would be remiss of me not to comment on the inclusion of the “Wild Card” round. All it means is that the teams that finish 7th and 8th have no chance of winning the flag as they now have to win five games in a row and against the best teams in the competition. An extra game for these teams effectively means the finals will be down to the top six teams.
Come October it will interesting to see how well Nostrodamus has fared in 2026!
By George Grossek
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George reasonably fair imo probably rate dogs list bit higher yes think they. are logically the best four teams
Adelaide may be a fraction better.Hawks need day and now Gulden ( yep realize after this was written) is a massive out – thank you
It’s great for football than you have 5 non Victorian teams in the top 6. In fact, your bottom 9 contains only 2 non Victorian teams.
After 2 matches, it’s very easy to overlook which teams have the best lists, as well as which teams have the best game plans and how these teams can adapt when the opposition closes down their game plan.
Like every year, injuries to a team’s top players and for how long, will play a big part, as well as how they go about replacing them.
Very good points made about Sydney missing Gulden for a long period of time, Hawthorn missing Day for a long period of time. St Kilda have been missing a very important key position player in the forgotten Max King for a very long period of time, and unfortunately for them, there’s no one of his quality on St Kilda’s list to replace him, like what happened when key position player Paddy McCartin suffered numerous concussions and now Dougal Howard, the forgotten key position backman, has been out injured for almost a year, without a suitable replacement. Silvagni has simply replaced Battle, who left to go to Hawthorn.
It’s also how many injuries and suspensions a team gets at the one time regarding their best players. A prime example is the number of players the great Brisbane Lions team were missing against Sydney last weekend. It was too much for them to handle on the day.
As the great coach Malcolm Blight would say, the replacements ain’t there!
However, there are examples of the very good teams of their time winning premierships without their key players. West Coast were missing Natanui and Gaff in 2018 and Adelaide were missing Modra and Ricciuto in 1997, so it’s possible.
Richmond were fortunate that in some of their premiership years, their best players who were out injured, returned in time for the finals. Therefore, good fortune can certainly play a part.
As good as Nostradamus may be at predicting what his final 18 may be in order, it’s impossible to predict injuries and suspensions.
Have to agree about the Western Bulldogs. They are definitely a premiership threat now, if they weren’t before, having now beaten top teams in the two time reigning Premiers, Brisbane, in Brisbane and now the top of the ladder from the home and way season from last year, Adelaide, in Adelaide. They could well finish in the the top 2 of the home and away season. Only a long term injury to Bontompelli could prevent that from happening. Notwithstanding, they seem to have a lot of depth and every player not only knows what the game plan is but more importantly, executes it well.
Of course, I’m very envious as like St Kilda, they are one of the smaller clubs, now ahead of St Kilda with 2 flags, and they seem to make every decision count in terms of recruitment, skill level and game plan. St Kilda should at least try to copy what they’re doing. They have got Simon Dalrymple now at St Kilda, who was instrumental in recruiting many good players for the Western Bulldogs who were in that 2016 premiership team.
In fact, every team that’s broken their long premiership droughts in the 21st century St Kilda supporters are envious of, but it gives their fans hope, if nothing else. In the words of Yoshi from the FA, I hope St Kilda can win their 2nd flag soon. Also, it won’t happen overnight for St Kilda but it will happen while NW-M is on the park, playing well for St Kilda.
Early days I know, but the absence of Gulden and Day are not affecting Sydney and Hawthorn’s positions as equal top on the ladder.
It shows that both teams have depth, as well as the fact that both those players aren’t key position forwards or backmen, who are harder to replace. Just ask St Kilda, who have been without Max King playing in the seniors for close to 2 years, and it hurts clubs with less depth more
Hawthorn have beaten good teams in Sydney and Geelong at the MCG and the Western Bulldogs. Sydney best a weakened Brisbane and Gold Coast, the top 2 picks from Nostradamus’ and Curnow hasn’t even hit form. Don’t forget Sydney also gave up Florent, although he was no longer an automatic selection, Haywood and high draft picks to get him.