FOX FOOTY Podcasts · Fox Sports Australia

Fox Footy Podcast: Predicted 2026 ladder and match sim insights

·45 min·10 clips

The Fox Footy Podcast is back for another season, and Ben Waterworth and Max Lawton jump in with opening round getting close. Most of the episode stays on where the league might land in 2026. A power rankings expert is lined up ahead of a big article release, so the preseason ladder chatter has a clear target. One club takes a fair bit of heat. The hosts are blunt about the talent on the list and just as blunt about the gap between talent and actually contending. There is some optimism around Jacob Smith, but not much hand waving about the present. The sense is that the payoff, if it comes, may arrive after the current coaching group. The show then turns to the nine match simulations, which are treated as a reason to argue rather than as settled truth. That keeps the hot take energy up without pretending preseason has answered everything. The ruck discussion is the most tactical part. The extended bench gets a look, along with the new ruck rules, the altered starts from behind the line, and the move from centre bounce to ball-up. The episode makes the case that those changes could create some winners and losers across the competition, and that the ruck spot may feel a lot less fixed than it has in recent years. The hosts keep bouncing between club outlook, rule changes, and the way predictions get built. By the end, the episode feels like a rough map of the season before the first meaningful bounce. It's part argument, part forecast, and part warning shot.

As heard by us

A brisk preseason AFL debate built around power rankings, nine match sims, and the new ruck rules.

The Fox Footy Podcast is back for season 11, and it spends its time doing what preseason AFL talk does best: drawing lines, making calls, and leaving just enough room to be wrong later. Power rankings, nine match simulations, and a Carlton segment carry most of the weight.

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Why you'd press play

You want the season's first real ladder argument, with edge.

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