Both preliminary finals were decided late, and both went against the team that led at half time. Fremantle trailed Sydney at every change at the SCG, by 21 at three-quarter time, then kicked 5.4 to Sydney’s 0.1 in the final quarter and won by 12. At the MCG, in front of 97,835 — the biggest crowd of 2026 — Hawthorn led Brisbane Lions by 14 at half time, lost the third quarter 7.2 to 1.4, and was beaten by nine despite scoring 122, the highest losing score of the season. Fremantle and Brisbane Lions are the two preliminary-final winners; in every season this dataset holds, 2015 to 2025, the two preliminary-final winners were the two grand finalists.
The week’s best game came from the losing side. Josh Ward rated a raw KICK Game Score of 93.8 in Hawthorn’s loss — a career best by more than 11 points. Nobody rated 100, so the 100 Club closes the week unchanged at 38 games from 23 players, 28 in wins and ten in defeats. That makes nine of 2026’s 29 weeks without a century.
A quick refresher: KICK Rating is our open, reproducible player rating — one score out of 100 for every player in every game, computed from the public box score, formula published, code public. A game score of 70 means a quality senior contribution. 85+ puts a player in All-Australian territory. A perfect 100 is the ceiling — once-a-season form. The full methodology is on the site, including where v1 falls short.
Preliminary Finals — 18 to 19 Sep 2026
Friday night went to Fremantle by 12 at the SCG, 12.11 (83) to 10.11 (71), in front of 45,129. Sydney led by 16 at quarter time, 19 at half time and 21 at the last change. Fremantle then kicked 5.4 (34) and held Sydney to a single behind. Sydney’s one point in the final quarter equals the lowest final-quarter score of 2026, alongside North Melbourne twice. Overturning a 21-point three-quarter-time deficit is the third-biggest such comeback of the season, behind Greater Western Sydney’s 27 against Geelong in Round 18 and North Melbourne’s 22 against Carlton in Round 4.
Saturday went to Brisbane Lions by 9 at the MCG, 20.11 (131) to 19.8 (122). Brisbane led by a point at quarter time. Hawthorn kicked 6.0 in the second quarter to lead by 14 at the main break, Brisbane kicked 7.2 to 1.4 in the third to lead by 20 at the last change, and Hawthorn won the final quarter 7.3 to 5.4 to finish nine points short. The combined 253 points is the fourth-highest total of 2026. Nick Watson kicked six goals for Hawthorn and Jack Gunston five, and Kai Lohmann kicked five for Brisbane — the third game of 2026 with three players kicking five or more.
Ward’s 93.8 came on 25 disposals, 11 clearances, nine tackles, five marks and 16 contested possessions at 84% game time — the week’s most clearances and contested possessions, and the equal-most tackles with Josh Dunkley and Jai Newcombe. His previous best was 82.2, in 2022, so this is also the first 90+ game of a career now 92 games long, and his first top-five appearance of 2026.
Errol Gulden had the week’s most disposals with 36, plus eight tackles, five clearances and six rebound-50s, and rated 86.1 in Sydney’s loss. Hugh McCluggage rated 80.0 on 23 disposals, three goals and six tackles, and Will Ashcroft 77.8 on 28 disposals, eight clearances and ten inside-50s — his fourth top-five appearance of the year. Hayden Young’s 74.7, on 28 disposals and seven tackles, is his best game of 2026.
Two more career bests were set, and both were checked against every game the players have on record. Watson’s six goals are one more than he had ever kicked in a game, and his 70.7 passes the 69.6 he rated in Round 1 this year. McCluggage’s 80.0 is not one: he rated 104.9 in 2025. Lohmann’s five goals equal his career high.
Luke Jackson rated 74.6 with 27 hit-outs, two goals and three contested marks in Fremantle’s win, and Caleb Serong won ten clearances. Hawthorn’s Lloyd Meek had the most hit-outs of the week with 37.
- 94
Josh Ward 25 disposals · 9 tackles · 11 clearances · 5 marks
- 86
Errol Gulden 36 disposals · 8 tackles · 5 clearances · 5 marks
- 80
Hugh McCluggage 23 disposals · 3 goals · 6 tackles · 1 clearance
- 78
Will Ashcroft 28 disposals · 1 goal · 1 tackle · 8 clearances
- 75
Hayden Young 28 disposals · 1 goal · 7 tackles · 4 clearances
The season tally — 29 weeks in
Twenty-nine weeks in, and only Brisbane Lions and Fremantle are left.
The four finals weeks produced four of the five lowest round-highs of 2026: the Wild Card round’s 87.0, the semi finals’ 89.3, this week’s 93.8 and finals week one’s 94.1. Only Round 13’s 91.5 breaks the run. Finals weeks have two to four games rather than nine, so there are fewer chances to post a big score.
The 100 Club (perfect KICK 100 games, 2026 season)
Bars show raw KICK Game Score, which is not capped. Every game here displays as a perfect 100 because the display score is capped at 100. The dashed line marks raw 100: bars reaching it cleared 100 outright, the shortest rounded up to it.
- R22
- R10
- R19
- R12
- R20
- R2
- R8
- R5
- R24
- R16
- R14
- R23
- R15
- R10
- R23
- R7
- R21
- R6
- R24
- R22
- R24
- R3
- R16
- R22
- R24
- R24
- R22
- R1
- R11
- R10
- R17
- R24
- R8
- R23
- R22
- R15
- R21
- R16
Most top-five appearances across the 29 weeks
Bailey Smith leads on 9, then Max Gawn on 8 and Marcus Bontempelli on 7 — all three final. Then Lachie Neale, Luke Jackson and Izak Rankine on 6, Nick Daicos on 5, and Errol Gulden, Will Ashcroft, Tristan Xerri and Harry Sheezel on 4. Gulden and Ashcroft added one each this week. Josh Ward, Hugh McCluggage and Hayden Young made the five for the first time in 2026.
Most 90+ KICK games
Bailey Smith leads on 8, Izak Rankine is second on 6, then Max Gawn, Nick Daicos and Lachie Neale on 5, and Marcus Bontempelli, Tristan Xerri, Harry Sheezel, Matt Rowell and Max Hall on 4. The only 90+ game of the week was Josh Ward’s, his first of the year.
Top season averages, three games minimum
| # | Player | Team | Season avg | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailey Smith | Geelong | 24 | |
| 2 | Max Gawn | Melbourne | 24 | |
| 3 | Nick Daicos | Collingwood | 23 | |
| 4 | Isaac Heeney | Sydney | 20 | |
| 5 | Harry Sheezel | North Melbourne | 21 | |
| 6 | Errol Gulden | Sydney | 13 | |
| 7 | Marcus Bontempelli | Western Bulldogs | 24 |
All seven of these are now final: none of those players’ clubs is in the last two. Bailey Smith finishes on top at 80.82 over 24 games, 0.24 ahead of Max Gawn. That is settled, not just likely. The best average at Brisbane Lions or Fremantle belongs to Luke Jackson, 72.07 over 26 games, and one more game would need a raw score above 300 to lift him past Smith — more than double the season’s best of 136.6. The one change this week is Errol Gulden: his 86.1 lifted him from 74.33 to 75.23 over 13 games, past Bontempelli’s 75.15 into sixth and 0.05 behind Harry Sheezel. Isaac Heeney did not play, so his 76.93 over 20 games is unchanged.
Where this is going
One game left. The next round-up covers the grand final, with a final season tally. If you want the current form at any time, the live leaderboard re-ranks after every build.
As always: formula here, failures published too, code open-source, no paywall. The current shipped version is v1.1; v1.2-1.4 were held after sweeps (results are on the methodology page). If you think the rating is wrong — especially if you think forwards are undervalued, which they measurably are — tell us, or check Positional KICK for the within-position view.
See you after the grand final.