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📻 IMPORTANT AUCKLAND UPDATE 📻
Aussie sport crystal ball: 9 big predictions for 2026
SEN • December 31st, 2025 12:09 pm
With another big year of sport ahead in 2026, we’ve looked into our crystal ball to see if we could nail a few predictions in Australian sport.
It’s an action packed calendar again for Aussies both at home and abroad in 2026, and if these predictions come true, it could be one our best sporting years yet.
We’ve picked out nine sports which mean a lot to Australians and have tried to make a big call which we see coming to fruition for each one.
Check them out below.
AFL
There will be an first time AFL Premier
Amongst the AFL’s 18 sides, only three sides have not yet hoisted the premiership: Gold Coast, Fremantle and GWS.
But in 2026, that club will go down to two.
All three of these sides made finals this year, having all shown glimpses of being able to be a true premiership contender.
When the Orange Tsunami is up and firing, the Giants become impossible to stop with their lightning-quick ball movement running teams off their feet with the likes of Tom Green and Finn Callaghan at the fore.
After making the finals for the first time, the Suns look to continue their improvement under Damien Hardwick, having added Christian Petracca and hoping that a change of scenery for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan will help him continue to grow as a key forward.
And at Fremantle, they have well and truly improved their scoring ability, which has made them less reliant on having to shut down their opponents.
The Suns are the most likely out of the three to win it all, but the Giants and the Dockers will be well within the mix to lift the cup on the last Saturday in September.
Nicholas Quinlan
Rugby League
New Zealand to win the 2026 Men's World Cup
Following a successful Pacific Championships campaign, New Zealand will become the kings of the rugby league world, winning the World Cup.
Australia and New Zealand, the two main contenders to take out the World Cup, are both in Pool A along with the Cook Islands and Fiji, almost guaranteeing passage through to the semi-finals.
There the two countries will likely take on Samoa and Tonga, securing close-fought wins before advancing to the final for a rematch of the tournament’s first game.
New Zealand were highly impressive in the Pacific Championships, dispatching Tonga and Samoa off the back of arguably the world’s best forward pack.
With James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota, and Joseph Tapine in their prime, and Naufahu Whyte and Erin Clark coming off career best seasons, the Kiwi pack is one to be feared.
Add in Jahrome Hughes and Jeremy Marshall-King returning from injury to strengthen the spine, a full season under the belt of Keaon Kini, and Dylan Brown maintaining his world class form, and New Zealand are a side to be feared.
The added hurt from missing out on the final in 2022 should supply enough fuel to the fire come the final at Suncorp Stadium.
Also, expect to see the Jillaroos take out the women’s World Cup in emphatic fashion. Tamika Upton is the world’s best player, and Australia’s dominant win in the Pacific Championship should mean they record a dominant win.
Sam Kosack
Surfing
Jack Robinson wins his first world title
Molly Picklum broke through in the women’s in 2025, and now, in 2026, it's time an Aussie male gets the job done.
The last Australian man to win the title was Mick Fanning in 2013, with those 12 years easily the longest drought for Aussies since the world championship was created in 1976.
Robinson has long been considered a world title hope, and having just turned 28, his time is now.
Robbo has finished in the top five in each of the past four years but has failed to put it together on ‘Finals Day’ to win it all.
Now, with the tour going back somewhat to its old format, with the Pipe Masters the finish, things have never looked more in Robinson’s favour.
The boy from Margaret River might just be a world champ come next December.
Lachlan Geleit
Cricket
Cam Green is Australia’s best player in 12 months’ time
He’s had a tough time of things this summer and may even lose his spot in the Aussie XI for the Sydney Test, but Cam Green will put it all together in 2026.
Having already been made the richest man from the 2026 IPL auction, Green will ride the coattails of that competition into a big Test year for the Australian team.
Following the Ashes, Australia’s next two Tests come against Bangladesh in Northern Australia in August.
After that, the Aussies head to South Africa for three Tests in the spring, before hosting New Zealand for four Tests next summer.
That schedule provides Green the perfect chance to show his best, both in terms of conditions and opposition.
Turning 27 during 2026, surely Green will finally put together his immense talent with bat, ball and in the field to become the player many expect him to be.
Lachlan Geleit
FIFA World Cup
Socceroos win a knockout game
Since Tony Popovic came in as coach in 2023, the Socceroos have found ways to win with his trademark discipline, having gone unbeaten for his first 11 games in charge and qualified for the World Cup.
As a result, the Socceroos were able to maintain their FIFA World Ranking within the mid-20s and managed to nab a spot within Pot 2 for the Group Stage draw.
Having now been against a co-host in the USA, Paraguay and a European country (Turkey, Slovakia, Romania and Kosovo), Group D is wide open for Australia.
And with the quality that the Socceroos boasts such as PSV’s Jordy Bos, Parma’s Alessandro Circati and Watford’s Nestory Irankunda, it should see them at the very least nab one of the third-place spots to make the Round of 32.
But most likely, they'll place in the top two which should see them get a favourable match-up to equal their best finish at the tournament with a Round of 16 appearance.
Nicholas Quinlan
Commonwealth Games
Mollie O'Callaghan to equal the record for most Gold Medals at a Commonwealth Games
Australia is the most dominant nation at the Commonwealth Games, winning eight of the last nine games and having the most medals of all time, so ‘Australia to win’ isn’t much of a prediction. However, we can expect some individual standouts as our next generation of Olympians come through.
At 21, Mollie O’Callaghan is one of Australia’s best young swimmers having already won eight Olympic medals, putting her joint-fourth overall in Australian history. Five of those eight medals were gold.
The record for most medals at a Commonwealth game is six; a record shared by Susie O’Neill (1998), Ian Thorpe (2002), Graham Smith (1978) and Emma McKeon (2022).
At the 2022 games, held in Birmingham, Mollie O’Callaghan won five gold medals, and two silver, placing her well in the frame to equal or break the record for most at a Commonwealth Games.
Assuming she swims all the same events, Mollie is a strong chance to reclaim her five gold from 2022 and pick up the gold in the 200m freestyle, given she recently won gold in that event at the World Aquatic Championships in August and her main competition, Ariarne Titmus, has retired from professional swimming.
Quietly, also expect to see Gout Gout in the final for the 100m and 200m sprint, with a chance to medal in the 200m, which would be a phenomenal achievement for the young Queenslander.
Sam Kosack
UFC
Australia’s warrior Alexander Volkanoski will lose his belt
Featherweight champion Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski will be starting the year with a huge challenge in Sydney at UFC 325, facing Brazilian gun Diego Lopes in a rematch on February 1.
While Volk previously defeated Lopes at UFC 314, there are some things to keep in mind about how the rematch will play out.
Since his defeat to Volkanovski, Lopes put on a clinic against fellow title contender Jean Silva, dominating the Fighting Nerd member in Round 1 before knocking him out via spinning elbow in Round 2. Lopes’ prime age of 31 has meant that he has been able to elevate his game since his loss at UFC 314, putting that on display against Silva.
Additionally, Volkanovski vs Lopes 1 was the Brazilian’s first ever time fighting five-rounds and Lopes himself even admitted that he was unsure on how to tackle the gruelling 25-minute bout. Due to this, the 31-year-old was quite inactive with his striking throughout the early stages of the fight – a stark contrast to his usual all-out attack fighting style. With five-round experience under his belt now, expect Lopes to spread his output more evenly in the rematch.
Finally, Volk is now 37-years-old, making it extremely difficult for his game to continue improving. While the Australian certainly won’t regress to an extreme portion; age always catches up to you.
As much as we all love Volk, Diego Lopes is a younger, hungrier beast and will make sure that the title doesn’t slip through his fingers this time around.
Don’t be surprised to hear “AND NEW” in Sydney!
Connor Scanlon
Rugby Union
Les Kiss wins five Tests
2026 is a big year for the Wallabies as they continue their preparations for a home World Cup in 2027.
And during the year, we’ll see the coaching handover between Joe Schmidt and Les Kiss take place following the first half of the inaugural Nations Championships, giving the Queensland Reds coach just over a year to get ready for the side’s biggest tournament.
While they may have similar coaching ideals, having worked together when Schmidt coached Ireland for two years, there will certainly be plenty of pressure on the 61-year-old to hit the ground running.
But if Kiss’ record is anything to go by, he has shown that he can turn things around quickly as a head coach.
At London Irish, he saw them promoted to the English Premiership (the first tier) in his first full season in charge, after they had been relegated the previous season when he took over towards the end of the season. At the Reds, he secured their best finish in the Super Rugby (excluding Covid-19) since 2013 in his first season.
With eleven Tests in front of him for the calendar year, which should help build some cohesion, it should see the Wallabies fit and firing with two wins against Eddie Jones' Japan, Wales, Scotland and a potential upset against Argentina away from home.
Nicholas Quinlan
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Tennis
Maya Joint makes the last 16 of a Grand Slam
She is somewhat of an unknown to the Australian sporting mainstream, but expect that to change in 2026.
The 19-year-old who was born and grew up in America switched her nationality back in 2023 and has not looked back since.
In the space of those two years, she has risen from being the World No. 773 to now being ranked 32nd in the world, which has seen her pass Daria Kasatkina as the highest-ranked Australian singles player in the WTA.
Already, she is beating top 20 opponents and claimed two WTA titles in 2025, showing that she has what it takes to go deep at a major despite having only two Grand Slam singles wins in her career so far.
With the improved ranking, it should make her passage to a potential fourth-round match a lot easier.
Nicholas Quinlan
