DANIEL Cutting had never previously won a tipping competition and dedicated less than 15 minutes a week to take out this year's $20,000 Official AFL Tipping competition.

Just three points separated the top 10 and Cutting finished equal on 155 with the runner-up – edging ahead with a superior accumulated margin.

More than 180,000 people registered, with the bulk of tippers based in Victoria (74,475).

Western Australia had 35,971 and South Australia 30,776, although pound-for-pound it was the ACT that produced the country's best tippers with an average score of 119.4 – ahead of the Croweaters' 118.62.

West Coast fans were the savviest tipsters, averaging 120.5 points, from Adelaide supporters (119.5) and Richmond fans (119).

As it is on the field, a simple game-plan that saw 30-year-old South Australian Cutting achieve success in 2015 – he tried to remove emotion from the equation and just pick the favourites each week.

"I'd generally tip based on the odds at market open, pick the favourites and tried to stick to a set and forget policy … I think tinkering can get you into trouble," Cutting said.

"The risk you take versus the reward you receive won't fall in your favour in the long run for a tipping competition.

"I jokingly took a screen shot as a memento during the latter part of the season when I cracked the top 100 and thought to myself that is about as good as I'll ever get for the year."

Based on Cutting's tipping technique, it's pretty easy to predict which side will take out Saturday's AFL Grand Final.

The current betting odds will also allow him to finally tip with his heart; he's a Hawthorn supporter and the Hawks will start favourites against West Coast at the MCG. 

But although he's tipped the Hawks to claim a third-straight flag by 10 points, Cutting believes West Coast is a real chance.

"It's a genuine 50/50; the Eagles have been under estimated all year," he said.

"They're very good at getting the ball inside 50 and converting those entries to scoring shots."