The 2026 AFL season concludes with the AFL Grand Final on Saturday September 26 at the MCG! Will the Brisbane Lions go back-to-back in the Premiership decider?
Finals pressure tightens across Round 16 of the 2026 AFL season, with wildcard hopes fuelling North Melbourne, Collingwood and Carlton as a blockbuster seven‑game slate unfolds, headlined by another fiery Showdown. Sydney return from the bye bolstered by key inclusions and look well placed to trouble a patchy Brisbane outfit at the Gabba, while Hawthorn’s formidable home record gives them the edge over an injury‑stripped GWS. Carlton’s resurgence under Josh Fraser has them humming into a must‑win clash with West Coast, and Collingwood should capitalise on Richmond’s freefall as Nick Daicos continues to loom large on the scoreboard. Port Adelaide and Adelaide renew hostilities in a rivalry where form rarely matters, though the Crows’ surge makes them the steadier hand. North Melbourne should have too much for a struggling Essendon despite their own inconsistencies, and Fremantle’s 13‑game tear sets them up to punish a fading Gold Coast side that continues to leak points. With finals implications everywhere you look, Round 16 shapes as a pivotal weekend for punters hunting value across the board.
Week: 16
Start Date: Thursday, June 25, 2026
Number of Games: 7
Byes: Western Bulldogs, Geelong Cats, St Kilda, Melbourne
Match of the Round: Showdown – Port Adelaide vs Adelaide
Port Adelaide
vs
Adelaide Crows
Saturday 27th June 2026 7:35 PM (AEST) – Adelaide Oval
SGM – Adelaide to Win by 1-39 / Total Points UNDER 166.5 / Darcy Fogarty Kick 2+ Goals @ $7.40
Port Adelaide and Adelaide will battle in the second Showdown of 2026 at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday night. As is often the case in Showdowns, the first meeting between these clubs this season was an absolute thriller, with Brayden Cook securing a 76-75 Crows victory thanks to his stunning goal in the final seconds. Sam Berry was awarded the Showdown Medal on that night after totalling 29 disposals, 17 contested possessions and 19 tackles, while Ben Keays was influential up forward with three goals. Adelaide has gone from strength to strength since that fixture and has now won six of its last seven matches after overcoming Melbourne 79-62 last Saturday. It’s the opposite story for Port Adelaide, which has now lost six of its last seven matches after falling 78-52 against Collingwood at the MCG last Saturday. That defeat also came at a significant cost, with Jack Lukosius (knee), Ewan Mackinlay (knee) and Esava Ratugolea (patella tendon) all going down with injuries.
Tip of the Week: SGM – Sydney to Beat Brisbane by 1-39 / Total Points OVER 182.5 / Josh Dunkley to Have 20+ Disposals
Brisbane Lions
vs
Sydney Swans
Thursday 25th June 2026 7:30 PM (AEST) – the Gabba
SGM – Sydney to Beat Brisbane by 1-39 / Total Points OVER 182.5 / Josh Dunkley to Have 20+ Disposals @ $6.44
Both fresh off a bye and preparing for a finals push, Brisbane and Sydney will play out a blockbuster clash at the Gabba on Thursday night. The Lions notched consecutive victories before the break and will go a long way to re-establishing themselves as premiership contenders if they can topple a Swans outfit riding 10 wins from its last 11 matches. Sydney’s last two wins came by a combined margin of five points against bottom-eight sides, leaving the club with some scope for improvement ahead of a tough stretch against the Lions, Bulldogs, Dockers and Crows. The return of Errol Gulden provides an immediate boost for Sydney, with the two-time All-Australian back after recovering from shoulder surgery earlier in the season. Regardless, Sydney will enter this clash with confidence, having won the last two battles with Brisbane, including a 104-60 result in Round 1 this season.
AFL odds correct as of 27/06/2026 and subject to change.
2026 AFL Season
The 2026 AFL season is set up as one of the most intriguing in years, running from 5 March to 26 September 2026 and marking the league’s 130th premiership season. It features all 18 clubs across a 23‑match home‑and‑away schedule played over 25 rounds, followed by the debut of the new top‑10 finals system, which introduces Wildcard matches for teams finishing 7th–10th.
Two major rule changes headline the year: the substitute rule is gone, replaced by a five‑player interchange, and the traditional centre bounce has been scrapped, with umpires now throwing the ball up instead.
The season opens with Sydney vs Carlton at the SCG on 5 March, and key dates include Gather Round in April, Anzac Day, the bye rounds across R12–16, and the Grand Final on 26 September 2026.
With Brisbane chasing a three‑peat and a pack of contenders reshaping under the new finals format, the 2026 campaign promises a fresh layer of unpredictability and plenty of storylines from Opening Round through to the last Saturday in September.
The 2026 AFL season is the 130th season of professional Aussie Rules. The same 18 clubs that faced off in the last 14 seasons of AFL do battle again.
The Brisbane Lions are the defending champions having won the 2025 AFL Premiership with 122-75 Grand Final victory last season over Geelong.
The AFL 2026 fixtures get underway on Thursday March 5, 2026, with the Sydney Swans hosting Carlton.
Opening Round of the 2026 AFL drawfeatures a total of four games.
For the third time in Aussie Rules history, the 2026 season does not begin with Round 1. Instead, a four-game ‘Opening Round’ takes place before the official full eight game Round 1 get underway.
Round 1 in 2026 again hosts the traditional Richmond v Carlton showdown at the MCG on Thursday, March 12.
There are 25 regular AFL rounds in the 2026 season.
The 2026 AFL Grand Final is set to takes place at the iconic MCG on Saturday, September 26, at the traditional 2:30pm timeslot.
The AFL stands for the Australian Football League and is the leading professional Australian Rules competition run down under each year.
Featuring 18 teams the league was founded back in 1897 as the Victorian Football League (VFL) when just eight teams from Victoria faced off. Five Australian states are now represented in the current AFL Premiership, which came about in 1990 when the league was officially renamed to make for a more national competition, although Victoria continues to dominate with 10 still in the mix including nine from Melbourne.
The other states with AFL teams are New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia each with two clubs in the competition. The first non-Victorian AFL club was the Sydney Swans that came about when South Melbourne relocated interstate in 1982 and interest in the game grew.
Unlike in the NRL there is no New Zealand AFL club, although New Zealand has been host to offshore AFL games over the years.
There is also a fast-growing AFLW (Women’s AFL competition) that has expanded to 14 teams from 2019 taking place ahead of the AFL season.
In 2017, The Richmond Tigers celebrated their first Premiership in 37 years. Photo by The Herald Sun
Of these seven are foundation clubs having inaugurated in 1897 with Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and Sydney the oldest AFL clubs in the competition.
The AFL Premiership in 2024 has expanded to a 25-week regular season with the addition of a four-match Opening Round ahead of the official Round 1 fixtures that runs from March to September each year.
The 25 AFL Rounds lead into the highly anticipated AFL Finals football that pits the top performing teams on the AFL Ladder in a finals series that culminates with the AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Some of the other key AFL games over the season are the Collingwood vs. Essendon ANZAC Day match at the MCG and the Queen’s Birthday fixture between Melbourne and Collingwood.
As well as the Premiership title there are plenty of other coveted AFL awards up for grabs for the teams and players each year including the Brownlow Medal awarded to the fairest and best player in the league – Brownlow Medal betting on offer throughout the season.
Collingwood, Essendon and Carlton all share the record of most VFL / AFL Premiership wins with 16 each following the Magpies’ win in the 2023 AFL Grand Final. Collingwood also boast the most AFL Grand Final appearances with 46.
AFL ODDS
The AFL odds on the seasonal Premiership competition attract massive amounts of interest each year with online sports betting markets available on the Aussie Rules pre-season.
There are now 25 regular or home-and-away AFL Round betting markets open plus Australian Rules odds on the AFL finals and Grand Final to add interest to the AFL fixtures. Punters can also enjoy specialty AFL odds on a range of other markets like the season’s Brownlow Medal Winner.
AFL betting features standard sports odds like head-to-head markets on the weekly games across the AFL draw plus exotic options including the winning margin of a game, first goal kicker and quarter-time score predictions.
All of this plus the generous AFL Premiership odds open across the season where you can back your favourite AFL club to win the end-of-season Grand Final played at the MCG.
AFL odds are updated at the end of each round and as well as the head-to-head markets there are the always popular line betting odds and Ladbrokes exclusive AFL Season Pricing open all season with markets for all 25 rounds open even before the first Premiership game is played.
AFL BET TYPES
See below for some of the most popular AFL bet types.
AFL Head-to-Head Betting
Head-to-head odds are simple and feature a price on both teams facing off in a selected AFL game to win the match. The same price can be offered if the two clubs are deemed an equal chance of winning, but usually there is a favourite at shorter AFL odds. These markets are affected by things like lead-up form across the season, their record at the venue, whether they are playing at home or away and the AFL team selections for the match.
AFL Line Betting
Line betting is the second most popular type of AFL odds on offer for each game. The line is the winning spread of points a team must either win or lose by for that bet to pay out. For example, if West Coast are at +40.5 @ $1.87 that means they must beat their rivals in that game by more than 40.5 points for you to collect on the bet.
AFL Season Pricing
Ladbrokes were the first online sports bookmaker in Australia to offer exclusive AFL season pricing with head-to-head betting markets available for all 25 rounds of the home-and-away season. These markets give supporters an excellent opportunity to back their favourite AFL team across the full season. AFL season pricing is updated each round so checking back on a weekly basis is key. We have these markets available By Rounds or By Team to make it even easier to follow your club.
AFL Premiership Betting
The futures AFL Premiership betting odds list the prices on offer for each of the AFL teams to win the annual Grand Final. The markets are affected by the round-by-round AFL results and usually the teams sitting the highest on the AFL ladder are at the shortest price to win the competition.
AFL Minor Premiership Betting
The AFL Minor Premiership odds are the markets on offer for each Australian Rules football club to win that season’s Minor Premiership and finish the regular 25 round season at the top of the AFL Ladder. Since 1991 the AFL Minor Premiers have been awarded the McClelland Trophy. Interesting to note is that as of 2015 of the 119 VFL/AFL Minor Premiership winners, 64 have continued on to win that season’s Grand Final. A further 41 finished runners-up losing the Grand Final and just 14 didn’t make a Grand Final appearance. Collingwood have won the most VFL/AFL Minor Premierships with 19 in total.
AFL Place Betting
AFL Place betting are futures odds open on the clubs to either Make the Top 4 or Make the Top 8 on the AFL premiership ladder at the end of the home-and-away season. It is essential to finish in the first eight positions on the AFL ladder to make the AFL Finals and prices are on offer for all the AFL teams to finish in these coveted spots. Punters can also find AFL odds on each club to Miss the Top 8.
AFL Season Wins Betting
Betting on AFL Season wins is open even before the start of the annual Premiership and lists prices club-by-club to record either under or over a certain number of wins across the overall 25-week regular season leading up to the finals series.
Brownlow Medal Betting
The AFL’s Brownlow Medal – officially the Charles Brownlow Trophy – is awarded to the fairest and best professional Australian Football League player of the home-and-away season. The decision is made based on the votes cast by field umpires after each game during the AFL fixtures and is a highly coveted award. Brownlow Medal odds list the specific players monetary chances to win the sport’s most prestigious individual award.
