We took the score, venue and crowd of all 131 VFL/AFL grand finals, the three drawn games and their replays included, from the list of VFL/AFL premiers, checked every score adds up, and computed the margins ourselves. Where a grand final was drawn, the replay is the game that decided the flag. Ladder positions from 1994 come from our study of how often AFL minor premiers win the flag.
Average AFL grand final winning margin
The median AFL-era margin was 40 points. Seven were decided by less than two goals: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2018, 2023 and 2026. Nine were decided by ten goals or more, the latest Brisbane's 60-point win over Sydney in 2024.
Grand finals have been more lopsided than they used to be. The average margin was 16.8 points in the 1900s, climbed to 37.5 in the 1950s, fell back to about 25 in the 1960s and 1970s, and peaked at 48.1 in the 1980s. Since then it has stayed between 34.7 points (the 2000s) and 45.8 (the 1990s); the 2020s so far average 43.4.
Every AFL grand final result since 1990
| Season | Premiers | Score | Runners-up | Score | Margin | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Collingwood | 13.11 (89) | Essendon | 5.11 (41) | 48 | MCG |
| 1991 | Hawthorn | 20.19 (139) | West Coast | 13.8 (86) | 53 | Waverley Park |
| 1992 | West Coast | 16.17 (113) | Geelong | 12.13 (85) | 28 | MCG |
| 1993 | Essendon | 20.13 (133) | Carlton | 13.11 (89) | 44 | MCG |
| 1994 | West Coast | 20.23 (143) | Geelong | 8.15 (63) | 80 | MCG |
| 1995 | Carlton | 21.15 (141) | Geelong | 11.14 (80) | 61 | MCG |
| 1996 | North Melbourne | 19.17 (131) | Sydney | 13.10 (88) | 43 | MCG |
| 1997 | Adelaide | 19.11 (125) | St Kilda | 13.16 (94) | 31 | MCG |
| 1998 | Adelaide | 15.15 (105) | North Melbourne | 8.22 (70) | 35 | MCG |
| 1999 | Kangaroos | 19.10 (124) | Carlton | 12.17 (89) | 35 | MCG |
| 2000 | Essendon | 19.21 (135) | Melbourne | 11.9 (75) | 60 | MCG |
| 2001 | Brisbane Lions | 15.18 (108) | Essendon | 12.10 (82) | 26 | MCG |
| 2002 | Brisbane Lions | 10.15 (75) | Collingwood | 9.12 (66) | 9 | MCG |
| 2003 | Brisbane Lions | 20.14 (134) | Collingwood | 12.12 (84) | 50 | MCG |
| 2004 | Port Adelaide | 17.11 (113) | Brisbane Lions | 10.13 (73) | 40 | MCG |
| 2005 | Sydney | 8.10 (58) | West Coast | 7.12 (54) | 4 | MCG |
| 2006 | West Coast | 12.13 (85) | Sydney | 12.12 (84) | 1 | MCG |
| 2007 | Geelong | 24.19 (163) | Port Adelaide | 6.8 (44) | 119 | MCG |
| 2008 | Hawthorn | 18.7 (115) | Geelong | 11.23 (89) | 26 | MCG |
| 2009 | Geelong | 12.8 (80) | St Kilda | 9.14 (68) | 12 | MCG |
| 2010 | Drawn | 9.14 (68) | Collingwood v St Kilda | 10.8 (68) | 0 | MCG |
| 2010 replay | Collingwood | 16.12 (108) | St Kilda | 7.10 (52) | 56 | MCG |
| 2011 | Geelong | 18.11 (119) | Collingwood | 12.9 (81) | 38 | MCG |
| 2012 | Sydney | 14.7 (91) | Hawthorn | 11.15 (81) | 10 | MCG |
| 2013 | Hawthorn | 11.11 (77) | Fremantle | 8.14 (62) | 15 | MCG |
| 2014 | Hawthorn | 21.11 (137) | Sydney | 11.8 (74) | 63 | MCG |
| 2015 | Hawthorn | 16.11 (107) | West Coast | 8.13 (61) | 46 | MCG |
| 2016 | Western Bulldogs | 13.11 (89) | Sydney | 10.7 (67) | 22 | MCG |
| 2017 | Richmond | 16.12 (108) | Adelaide | 8.12 (60) | 48 | MCG |
| 2018 | West Coast | 11.13 (79) | Collingwood | 11.8 (74) | 5 | MCG |
| 2019 | Richmond | 17.12 (114) | Greater Western Sydney | 3.7 (25) | 89 | MCG |
| 2020 | Richmond | 12.9 (81) | Geelong | 7.8 (50) | 31 | Gabba |
| 2021 | Melbourne | 21.14 (140) | Western Bulldogs | 10.6 (66) | 74 | Optus Stadium |
| 2022 | Geelong | 20.13 (133) | Sydney | 8.4 (52) | 81 | MCG |
| 2023 | Collingwood | 12.18 (90) | Brisbane Lions | 13.8 (86) | 4 | MCG |
| 2024 | Brisbane Lions | 18.12 (120) | Sydney | 9.6 (60) | 60 | MCG |
| 2025 | Brisbane Lions | 18.14 (122) | Geelong | 11.9 (75) | 47 | MCG |
| 2026 | Brisbane Lions | 14.12 (96) | Fremantle | 12.17 (89) | 7 | MCG |
Biggest grand final wins and closest grand finals
Geelong's 119-point win over Port Adelaide in 2007, 24.19 (163) to 6.8 (44), is the biggest margin in 131 grand finals. Nine of the ten biggest have come since 1980:
- 2007, Geelong d. Port Adelaide by 119 points: the record, and Geelong's first flag since 1963.
- 1988, Hawthorn d. Melbourne by 96 points: the VFL-era record.
- 2019, Richmond d. Greater Western Sydney by 89 points: the Giants' 3.7 (25) is the lowest grand final score since 1990.
- 2022, Geelong d. Sydney by 81 points, level with Richmond's win over Collingwood in 1980.
- 2021, Melbourne d. Western Bulldogs by 74 points in Perth, the ninth-biggest margin of all.
At the other end, four grand finals have been won by a single point: 1899, 1947, 1966 and 2006, when West Coast beat Sydney 12.13 (85) to 12.12 (84), a year after Sydney had beaten the Eagles by four. In 2023 Collingwood won 12.18 (90) to 13.8 (86), the only AFL-era premier to kick fewer goals than the team it beat.
Drawn grand finals, replays and the extra-time rule
Three grand finals have ended level, and each was replayed the following Saturday:
- 1948: Melbourne 10.9 (69) drew with Essendon 7.27 (69); Melbourne won the replay 13.11 (89) to 7.8 (50).
- 1977: North Melbourne 9.22 (76) drew with Collingwood 10.16 (76); North won the replay 21.25 (151) to 19.10 (124).
- 2010: Collingwood 9.14 (68) drew with St Kilda 10.8 (68); Collingwood won the replay 16.12 (108) to 7.10 (52), by 56 points.
After 2010 the AFL scrapped the replay. Since 2016 a drawn grand final goes to extra time on the day, and under the current rule the teams play two periods of three minutes plus time-on, changing ends between them, and repeat that until there is a winner. In the 11 grand finals since, extra time has never been needed; the closest was Collingwood's four-point win over the Brisbane Lions in 2023.
How often the higher-placed team wins the AFL grand final
Ladder position has been close to a coin toss on grand final day. From 1994 to 2026 the team that finished higher on the home-and-away ladder won 16 of the 33 grand finals, 48 percent, counting Collingwood's 2010 replay win. The lower-placed side has won the last three: the Brisbane Lions from fifth in 2024 and from third in 2025 and 2026.
The lowest-placed premier in that time was the Western Bulldogs, seventh in 2016. Minor premiers reached 24 of the 33 grand finals and won 11; the full ladder-by-ladder breakdown is in our separate study.
Back-to-back AFL premiers and three-peats
Repeating is hard. From 1991 to 2026 the reigning premier won the flag again eight times in 36 seasons, 22 percent, and reached the grand final 13 times. Five clubs have gone back to back in the AFL era: Adelaide in 1997 and 1998, the Brisbane Lions in 2001 to 2003, Hawthorn in 2013 to 2015, Richmond in 2019 and 2020, and the Brisbane Lions again in 2024 to 2026.
Only seven runs of three or more flags exist in VFL/AFL history: Carlton (1906-08), Collingwood (1927-30, the only four in a row), Melbourne (1939-41 and 1955-57), the Brisbane Lions (2001-03 and 2024-26) and Hawthorn (2013-15). Both Lions runs came inside a streak of four straight grand finals: they lost the 2004 decider to Port Adelaide and the 2023 decider to Collingwood. Their six AFL-era premierships are the most of any club since 1990, ahead of Hawthorn's five.
AFL grand final venues: the MCG, the Gabba and Perth
The MCG has hosted 120 of the 131 grand finals. The exceptions, as listed on the AFL Grand Final page, were four early games at other Melbourne grounds from 1898 to 1901, the war years of 1942 to 1945, when the MCG was taken over for military use, Waverley Park in 1991 while the Great Southern Stand was being built, and two pandemic years.
In 2020 Richmond beat Geelong by 31 points at the Gabba in Brisbane on 24 October, in front of 29,707, the first grand final outside Victoria and the first played at night. In 2021 Melbourne beat the Western Bulldogs by 74 points at Optus Stadium in Perth before 61,118. Back at the MCG, every grand final since 2017 has drawn more than 100,000; the record remains the 121,696 at the 1970 decider.
Norm Smith Medal winners
The Norm Smith Medal for the best player on the ground has been awarded since 1979, 49 times in 48 seasons, with one medal for each game of 2010: St Kilda's Lenny Hayes in the draw and Collingwood's Scott Pendlebury in the replay. Dustin Martin of Richmond is the only three-time winner (2017, 2019 and 2020).
Only five medallists have come from the losing side: Maurice Rioli (Richmond, 1982), Gary Ablett Sr. (Geelong, 1989), Nathan Buckley (Collingwood, 2002), Chris Judd (West Coast, 2005) and Fremantle's Shai Bolton, who joined that group in 2026. Brisbane's Will Ashcroft won in 2024 and 2025, the third back-to-back winner after Andrew McLeod (1997-98) and Martin (2019-20).
2026 AFL grand final result
The Brisbane Lions beat Fremantle 14.12 (96) to 12.17 (89) at the MCG on Saturday, 26 September 2026, before 100,023. Fremantle led by 17 points in the last five minutes before Brisbane kicked the last four goals; the Dockers, minor premiers and playing in their second grand final after 2013, had 29 scoring shots to Brisbane's 26.
The seven-point margin was the closest since 2023 and gave the Lions their third straight flag, from third on the ladder. The 2027 race starts on the AFL fixture and the AFL ladder, and our AFL ladder predictor plays out the season to see who could finish in the top four.
AFL grand final results: frequently asked questions
What is the biggest winning margin in an AFL grand final? 119 points, by Geelong over Port Adelaide in 2007, 24.19 (163) to 6.8 (44). The next biggest is Hawthorn's 96-point win over Melbourne in 1988.
Has an AFL grand final ever been drawn? Three times: 1948, 1977 and 2010. Each was replayed the following week; since 2016 a draw goes to extra time instead, and that has never been needed.
Who has won the most AFL premierships since 1990? The Brisbane Lions, with six (2001, 2002, 2003, 2024, 2025 and 2026), followed by Hawthorn with five.
Is the AFL grand final always played at the MCG? Almost always: 120 of 131 grand finals. The last exceptions were the Gabba in 2020 and Optus Stadium in Perth in 2021.
How this was built: the score, venue, crowd and date of all 131 VFL/AFL grand finals from 1898 to 2026, the three replays included, read from Wikipedia's list of VFL/AFL premiers through the MediaWiki API on October 4, 2026; Norm Smith medallists from Wikipedia's Norm Smith Medal page; ladder positions for 1994 to 2026 from our minor premiers study. The 2026 result was checked against the AFL's match report. Margins are in points; where a grand final was drawn, the replay is the deciding game. Early premierships settled by a challenge final or a final under the Argus system are counted as grand finals, as the league and Wikipedia count them. 1897 and 1924 had no grand final.