AFL Power Rankings: Round 10 2012

After dropping to third last week Hawthorn are back at the top following a Buddy-led demolition of North Melbourne. The Hawks have opened up a bit of a gap from a batch of teams that are bunched together at second to fifth, including last week’s leader, West Coast, who were one of several teams to lose this week to much lower-ranked opponents.

There is some movement in the middle of the rankings as well, with Richmond and Adelaide vaulting into the “top eight”, while Carlton fall from fifth to ninth, and Essendon from eighth to tenth. Some might be wondering how the Bombers, at 8-2 for the season, can be so low. Given that the ranking system is based on “relative margins”, their weak performances against bad opposition cost them in terms of ranking points – if their matches this season against Gold Coast, Port, and Melbourne were removed they would be up in sixth spot. So if you think the Dons’ struggles against the bottom teams don’t really matter, just imagine them as the sixth-ranked team instead.

1 (3) Hawthorn 28.3 (19.6)
2 (1) West Coast 20.0 (23.1)
3 (2) Geelong 20.0 (22.2)
4 (4) Collingwood 19.9 (18.9)
5 (7) Sydney 19.3 (13.2)
6 (6) St. Kilda 12.4 (14.9)
7 (9) Richmond 10.7 (8.0)
8 (10) Adelaide 9.5 (6.7)
9 (5) Carlton 7.1 (15.6)
10 (8) Essendon 6.2 (10.8)
11 (11) North Melbourne -5.2 (2.4)
12 (12) Western Bulldogs -9.2 (-4.8)
13 (14) Brisbane -12.6 (-14.7)
14 (13) Fremantle -14.4 (-12.0)
15 (15) Port Adelaide -20.4 (-28.4)
16 (16) Melbourne -36.1 (-40.2)
17 (18) Greater Western Sydney -53.4 (-56.2)
18 (17) Gold Coast -54.8 (-54.4)