What is Australian rules football?
Australian rules football is the code Australia invented for itself: 18 players a side on a large oval — often a cricket ground — with no offside rule, meaning play flows across the entire field. Players run with the ball only by bouncing it, dispose of it by kick or handball, and score six points for a goal between the middle posts, one for a behind.[1] [2]
How does the AFL work?
The AFL is league and governing body in one — 18 clubs under a hard salary cap and a national draft, an American-style equalization model unusual outside the U.S. — playing 23 home-and-away rounds into a finals series. The Grand Final at the MCG on the last Saturday in September is Australia's biggest annual sporting event, and a public holiday in Victoria. The Brisbane Lions won back-to-back flags in 2025, beating Geelong by 47 points.[2] [3]
Where is it played?
Overwhelmingly Australia — dominant in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania — with AFL Women's now a full national league, amateur competitions in Ireland, the U.S., Canada, Britain and Papua New Guinea, and the hybrid International Rules series against Gaelic football its only true international fixture.[2] [4]
How is it awarded?
- AFL premierships — the flag, decided on Grand Final day.[3]
- The Brownlow Medal — the fairest and best player of the season, voted by umpires.[2]
- All-Australian selection and the Norm Smith Medal for the Grand Final's best.[2]
- Draft position — the published entry credential for every new professional.[2]
Who has won the most in Australian rules football?
Premierships span the VFL and the AFL, the same competition renamed in 1990, and come from the league's own premiership table — which puts three clubs level on sixteen, not the two usually named. Through the 2025 premiership; the 2026 grand final is on 26 September. Games and goals are the league's own objective counts, and no voted award appears here. Three absences are deliberate: the AFL publishes no list of grand final appearances, so none is given; the games list stops at seventh, where official pages stop confirming totals; and two players inside the all-time goal-scoring ten are left out, leaving gaps at seventh and ninth, for the same reason. One figure in the goals table — Jason Dunstall's 1,254 — rests on an AFL feature that confirms the player, not the total.
Most VFL/AFL premierships by club, all time (1897–2025, 129 seasons)
| Rank | Club | Years | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | Collingwood | 1902, 03, 10, 17, 19, 27, 28, 29, 30, 35, 36, 53, 58, 90, 2010, 23 | 16 |
| 1= | Essendon | 1897, 1901, 11, 12, 23, 24, 42, 46, 49, 50, 62, 65, 84, 85, 93, 2000 | 16 |
| 1= | Carlton | 1906, 07, 08, 14, 15, 38, 45, 47, 68, 70, 72, 79, 81, 82, 87, 95 | 16 |
| 4= | Melbourne | 1900, 26, 39, 40, 41, 48, 55, 56, 57, 59, 60, 64, 2021 | 13 |
| 4= | Richmond | 1920, 21, 32, 34, 43, 67, 69, 73, 74, 80, 2017, 19, 20 | 13 |
| 4= | Hawthorn | 1961, 71, 76, 78, 83, 86, 88, 89, 91, 2008, 13, 14, 15 | 13 |
| 7 | Geelong | 1925, 31, 37, 51, 52, 63, 2007, 09, 11, 22 | 10 |
| 8 | Fitzroy | 1898, 99, 1904, 05, 13, 16, 22, 44 | 8 |
| 9= | Brisbane Lions | 2001, 02, 03, 2024, 25 | 5 |
| 9= | Sydney Swans (South Melbourne + Sydney) | 1909, 18, 33, 2005, 12 | 5 |
Most AFLW premierships by club (2017–2025, 10 completed seasons)
| Rank | Club | Years | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adelaide | 2017, 2019, 2022 (S6) | 3 |
| 2= | Brisbane | 2021, 2023 | 2 |
| 2= | North Melbourne | 2024, 2025 | 2 |
| 4= | Melbourne | 2022 (S7) | 1 |
| 4= | Western Bulldogs | 2018 | 1 |
Most VFL/AFL games played by a player
| Rank | Player | Club | Years | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Pendlebury | Collingwood | 2006–2026 | 442 |
| 2 | Brent Harvey | North Melbourne/Kangaroos | 1996–2016 | 432 |
| 3 | Michael Tuck | Hawthorn | 1971–1991 | 426 |
| 4 | Shaun Burgoyne | Port Adelaide 2001–09, Hawthorn 2010–21 | 2001–2021 | 407 |
| 5 | Kevin Bartlett | Richmond | 1965–1983 | 403 |
| 6 | Dustin Fletcher | Essendon | 1993–2015 | 400 |
| 7 | Travis Boak | Port Adelaide | 2007–2025 | 387 |
Most VFL/AFL career goals by a player
| Rank | Player | Club | Years | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony Lockett | St Kilda 1983–94, Sydney 1995–99, 2002 | 1983–2002 | 1,360 |
| 2 | Gordon Coventry | Collingwood | 1920–1937 | 1,299 |
| 3 | Jason Dunstall | Hawthorn | 1985–1998 | 1,254 |
| 4 | Lance Franklin | Hawthorn 2005–13, Sydney 2014–23 | 2005–2023 | 1,066 |
| 5 | Doug Wade | Geelong 1961–72, North Melbourne 1973–75 | 1961–1975 | 1,057 |
| 6 | Gary Ablett Sr | Hawthorn 1982, Geelong 1984–97 | 1982–1997 | 1,031 |
| 8 | Matthew Lloyd | Essendon | 1995–2009 | 926 |
| 10 | Peter McKenna | Collingwood 1965–75 (838), Carlton 1977 (36) | 1965–1977 | 874 |
Medal lists rank on total medals, then gold, then silver; title lists rank on titles. Equal totals share a rank, and every table states the period and the last event it includes. Verified September 2026.[5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
References
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Australian rules football. Accessed August 2026.
- AFL — official site. Accessed August 2026.
- 2025 AFL Grand Final — Brisbane Lions. Accessed August 2026.
- AFL — AFLW. Accessed August 2026.
- AFL — premiership winners, 1897–2025. Accessed September 2026.
- AFL — records, leaders and milestone features. Accessed September 2026.
- womens.afl — Adelaide's third AFLW premiership (AFL-owned). Accessed September 2026.
- womens.afl — Melbourne's maiden AFLW premiership, season 7. Accessed September 2026.
- AFL — 2018 AFLW grand final match report (Western Bulldogs). Accessed September 2026.
- Collingwood — club goal-scoring records. Accessed September 2026.