Squiggle AFL Games Scraper

Squiggle AFL Games Scraper

Scrape AFL games, standings, tips, and team data from Squiggle, the statistical model site, in one flat row per record. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Squiggle is the go-to source for AFL data nerds: match results, ladders, model tips, and team lists, all computed by a transparent statistical model. This Actor reads those public pages directly and returns each record in a fixed schema, so you can skip the manual copying and get straight to analysis.

Who uses it	What they scrape Squiggle for
Sports analysts	Pull historical AFL results to test betting models or write season reviews.
Fantasy football players	Grab weekly tips and standings to inform team selections and trades.
Journalists and bloggers	Get up-to-date ladder positions and match outcomes for articles and social posts.
Data science students	Collect a clean dataset of AFL games for regression or machine learning practice.

What it does

This Actor collects AFL games, teams, standings, or tips from Squiggle and returns each record as a flat row.

• 🏉 Games / Results: every match with scores, margin, venue, and date for a season or single round.
• 📊 Standings / Ladder: wins, losses, percentage, and ladder position after any round.
• 🔮 Tips / Predictions: model probabilities and predicted margins for upcoming or past games.
• 👥 Teams: the full club list with names and abbreviations, ignoring year and round.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with Squiggle data

📈 Backtest betting models.

A punter pulls all games from 2018 to 2023 and compares Squiggle's predicted margins against actual results to find value bets.

🏆 Track the premiership race.

A fan blog scrapes the ladder after every round and auto-updates a live table on their site.

🔍 Audit tipster accuracy.

A data journalist collects Squiggle's weekly tips and measures how often the model beats the bookmakers.

📚 Build a historical archive.

A researcher scrapes every season back to 1897 and stores the results in a database for long-term trend analysis.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Squiggle has no official API, so this Actor is the only automated way to get its data.
One fixed schema	Every record comes out flat and consistent, ready for spreadsheets or databases.
Season and round filters	Pull exactly the slice you need, from a single round to a full season.
Up to a million records	Set maxItems high enough to grab every game since 1897 in one run.

How it compares

No other Store actor targets Squiggle the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	Squiggle AFL Games Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When Squiggle changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a data type selector, then narrow by season year and round. Filters run as each record is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "year": 2024,
  "round": 1,
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "year": 2024,
  "round": 1,
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.006 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.60
1,000 results	$6.00
10,000 results	$60.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the Squiggle AFL Games Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to Squiggle through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/squiggle-afl-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check that the year and round are valid for the query. For example, round 0 is only used for pre-season, and some early seasons have fewer rounds. Also ensure maxItems is at least 1.

The run fails with a timeout.

Squiggle can be slow during peak traffic. Increase the timeout in the Actor's run settings, or reduce maxItems to fetch fewer records per run.

Some fields are empty in the output.

Squiggle does not always populate every field, especially for older seasons or abandoned games. Empty fields are normal and mean the data was not available on the page.

I get an error about invalid year.

The year must be between 1897 and 2026. If you need a season outside that range, it is not supported by Squiggle.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What is Squiggle?	Squiggle is a website that runs a statistical model of Australian Football League (AFL) games. It publishes match results, ladders, team lists, and model predictions.
Does Squiggle have an official API?	No, Squiggle does not offer a public API. This Actor reads the public web pages and extracts the data into a structured format.
Can I scrape a single round?	Yes, set the round input to the round number you want. Leave it empty to get the whole season.
What seasons are available?	The Actor accepts years from 1897 to 2026. Squiggle's data goes back to the start of the VFL/AFL, though early seasons may have fewer fields.
Does the Teams query use year and round?	No, the Teams query ignores year and round. It always returns the current club list.
How many records can I get in one run?	You can set maxItems up to 1,000,000. A full season of games is about 200 records, so that is plenty for historical archives.
What format is the output?	The Actor returns JSON by default, but you can export to CSV, Excel, XML, or other formats from the Apify dataset.
Is there a risk of getting blocked?	Squiggle is a small, public site with no aggressive anti-bot measures. The Actor uses polite delays, but you can increase the proxy settings if needed.
Can I schedule this to run weekly?	Yes, use Apify's scheduler to run the Actor after each round of games, then push the results to your database or spreadsheet.
What if I need data not in the schema?	The Actor returns all fields that Squiggle exposes for the selected query. If you need something else, contact support and we can extend it.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Squiggle. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.