Pett Family & Friends Tipping 2026

The Champion Tipster of the Year for 2026 is… Tony Cardamone! Congratulations Tony on pulling off a stunning victory in your first year in the competition, which also happens to the occasion of its fiftieth running. Other people who had really good years were Fran (Tony’s daughter); Gaynor, who led for a fair chunk of the year; and Helen. Both Fran and Helen had a chance today of finishing equal with Tony in top spot and going into a finals tip-off, but for Helen, Essendon didn’t get up over Port, and for Fran, North Melbourne lost to Sydney.  Robert too, ever consistent, was up there again in another good year for him. Judith and Lara finished equal 4th with Gaynor.

The best tipsters in the final round were Annie and Steph with 7, but all the honours belong to Tony. Congrats again Tony. Your name will be going on to the Honour Board for 2026 and I’ll post a photo of it here on the blog when it’s done. Speaking of photos, I’ll get a better one soon but for now, below is a photo from my 60^th in April last year. Tony is in the red Demons cap. To his right is his wife Doris and to his left is Peter Lynch, our fellow tipster and resident Collingwood supporter.

I will be back again for the next running of Pett Family & Friends Tipping in 2027. I hope you’ll all be in again but if you want to opt out, that’s fine. I’ll send an email to everyone a couple of weeks before the first game.

What a great day that was for the Crows yesterday and magnificent farewell for Tex in his last home and away game. It looks like our first final, which will be at Adelaide Oval, will be against the winner of Bulldogs and Collingwood. Both of those teams have beaten us at AO this year and Collingwood beat us there almost every time. I’ve got a feeling, though, that whoever we play, the Crows will win this time.

See you later everyone.

The Final Ladder…

There were two draws this weekend and, in this comp, you don’t get the tip when it’s a draw. So, best of the week were Fran, Helen, Huddo, Janet, Judith, Lara, Peter, Rob and Tony, who got the other 7 games. Next best with 6 were Ausi, Gaynor, Grace and Matt. But with one week left in this 50th running of Pett Family & Friends Tipping, it’s Tony leading by 1 from Helen and his daughter Fran. Will Tony hold on? Will we be going into the finals for a tip-off? We’ll know this time next week.

It seems like only yesterday that hopes were high that the Crows would make the top 4. Now it is pretty certain that they will be playing off in the Wild Card round – unless the Bulldogs can beat Melbourne next week (and the Crows need to beat GWS of course). It’s a very interesting season and the finals will be great to watch, even if the Crows do get bundled out.

The Ladder after Round 23…

The leading tipsters this week, getting 8 out of 9, were Sal and myself. Next best with 7 were Matt and Tony. There are only two weeks of tipping left and Tony has edged back into the lead on his own, one ahead of Fran and Helen. Tony is a big Melbourne-supporter and, of the top three tipsters, he was the only one to go for Melbourne to beat Freo. Will he be the winner of the 50^th running of Pett Family & Friends Tipping? In his debut year?

The Crows have a bad habit of taking it easy against sides they think will be an easy-beat, and on Saturday night it looked like they were doing that again and would pay a big price for it. Fortunately, Rankine stood up and we got the win. The Crows are so unpredictable, though, that I have a feeling they will beat Fremantle in the west on Friday night. What a game that should be. Meanwhile, it’s very interesting times at the AFL with the Geelong concussion-waiver scandal. Should Craig Drummond step down as AFL Commissioner? Journalist Jay Clarke, who broke the whole story, wrote a great article arguing that he simply has to. It is in today’s Sunday Mail.    

There is no Thursday night game next week. Tipping day is Friday.

The Ladder after Round 22…

Grace and Helen were our best this week, with 7 out of 9. Next best with 6 were a heap of people: Ausi, Dee, Fran, Huddo, Janet, Jeremy, Judith, Lara, Matt, Robert, Steph and Tony. But the news is that Helen has now joined the leaders, making it a 3-way tie between Fran, Tony and Helen, with Gaynor 1 back and Robert 1 further back.

That was a good rebound win for the Crows and great to see Collingwood get done on Thursday night (sorry Peter). Carlton are on fire and you’d think that surely they have to sign Josh Fraser for a few years. Freo won again but, as Jeremy said tonight, they don’t look like a team that’s unbeatable. Next week they have Melbourne at the MCG. Will be interesting.

The Ladder after Round 21…

Our top seven tipsters all tipped exactly the same this week and got 7. In fat, a heap off people got 7, which was the best of the week. The full list is: Ausi, me, Dee, Fran, Gaynor, Grace, Helen, Janet, Judith, Lara, Peter, Rob, Steph and Tony. That means it’s still Tony and Fran tied in the lead, with Gaynor and Helen one back, and a few people under that who are still in with a chance. Who will get their name on the honour board for 2026? There are four weeks of tipping left.

As someone said about the Crows after Thursday night, last week’s win over Sydney was a ‘statement win’ and Thursday night against Collingwood was a ‘statement loss’. With echoes of last year’s finals series, once again we went missing in a pressure game that we were expected to win. Mick Malthouse didn’t mix his words in his opinion of the Crows. He says too many Crows players are soft. Geelong have now won a couple in a row, Hawthorn keep winning and so do Freo, but my tip for the premiership is Collingwood. They will make it into the Grand Final against Freo, and, on their home ground the MCG, they’ll win.

The Ladder after Round 20…

Jeremy has had a lot of good tipping weeks this year and Round 19 was another one. He led the way with 8, followed by Dee, Grace, Judith, Lara, Matt, Peter and Robert with 7. On the ladder, the top four places remain the same but the big development is that everyone who got 7 moved one closer, and that includes Robert, a multiple-time winner of this comp who is now only two back. We have five tipping rounds left.

What a mighty win that was for the Crows on Friday night. It was a big statement to the competition. The problem is that we now face Peter’s Pies at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night. I know we beat Collingwood at the MCG in Round 1 this year but Collingwood are still our nemesis. Also, they have won their last five, they have a good record at Adelaide Oval, and Fogarty is out. Even though the bookies have the Crows as favourities, I reckon the challenge this week against Collingwood is as big as Friday night was against Sydney. Meanwhile, Freo and Hawthorn keeping winning, and Melbourne and Brisbane are still in the mix too. It’s an interesting season especially with Freo, assuming they make the grand final, having to play it at the MCG. If that happens, hopefully they will be playing another non-Victorian team.

The Ladder after Round 19…

Not a week passes in this comp without a change of some kind at the top of the ladder. First, Janet and Tony were the stars this week, getting all 9. Then, Ausi, Fran, Gaynor, Grace, Helen, Judith, Peter, and Robert all got 8. But Tony’s 9 puts him back in the lead, now held jointly with his daughter Fran. Yes, it’s father and daughter of the Cardamone family sharing the lead. Dad is a mad Melbourne supporter and Fran goes for the Hawks. But we still have six weeks of tipping left. Anything could happen.

The Crows made pretty easy work of Gold Coast as Hardwick became the second coach this year to crack a big sook after someone in the Adelaide crowd said something unkind as he walked down to go out at three quarter time. These non-South Australians need to toughen up I say. Hawthorn brought an end to Carlton’s 7-game winning streak. Collingwood had another narrow win over North Melbourne. Geelong are losing more games than expected and Essendon are a waste of space. Next Friday night the Crows play Sydney in Sydney, with Sydney coming off a loss. Huge test. If the Crows can win that, we are serious premiership contenders.

The Ladder after Round 18…

For the first time this year, our tipster of the week was Lara with 7. Lara won this competition in 2008 and is now only 4 off the lead. But she wasn’t on her own this week. Ray also got 7, continuing his good form of late. Next best with 6 this week were Fran, Grace, Peter, Sally, Steph and me. And because Fran got 6, with Gaynor, Tony and Helen getting 5, Fran has edged back into the lead on her own. With seven weeks of tipping left, the winner could come from just about anyone currently in the top half of the ladder.

The Crows did what they needed to do and bounced back with a good win over West Coast. Next week they face Gold Coast at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night, which will be an interesting one with Gold Coast having lost their last six. And it’s good to see Port have two wins in a row. They’ve had a bit of bad luck this year with so many narrow losses. Carlton’s run of wins under interim coach Josh Fraser is now 7 but next week they play Hawthorn at the MCG on Saturday night, with Hawthorn coming off a loss. Can Carlton make it 8 in a row? We’ll see (but I won’t be watching because it’s on at the same time as Crows v Gold Coast).

The Ladder after Round 17…

This 50th year of Pett Family & Friends Tipping is shaping up to be one of the closest ever. This week, Helen, Jeremy, Judith, Peter, Robert and Tony led the way with 6. Next best were Ausi, Dee, Fran, Gaynor, Grace, Huddo, Janet and Ray with 5. But at the top of the ladder we now have a 4-way tie between Gaynor, Tony, Fran and Helen, with Huddo 1 back, Robert 1 behind that, and others still in contention.

The Crows came down to earth with a thud, but well done to Port, they wanted to win much more than the Crows did right from the opening minutes. For the Crows, hopefully it’s a just a temporary setback. It’s a long season and it’s hard to keep winning all the time. Their next opponent is West Coast in Perth on Friday night. Meanwhile, Freo and Hawthorn keep winning and Peter’s Pies are not out of the equation this year yet either.

Catch you later.

The Ladder after Round 16…