2023 AFL season

127th season of the Australian Football League (AFL)

The 2023 AFL season was the 127th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 16 March to 30 September, comprising a 23-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top eight clubs.

Collingwood won the premiership, defeating the Brisbane Lions by four points in the 2023 AFL Grand Final; it was Collingwood's 16th VFL/AFL premiership. Collingwood also won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with an 18–5 win–loss record. The Brisbane Lions' Lachie Neale won his second Brownlow Medal as the league's best and fairest player, and Carlton's Charlie Curnow won his second consecutive Coleman Medal as the league's leading goalkicker.

Background

Norwood Oval hosted two matches during the inaugural Gather Round in 2023.

The fixture was extended to 23 matches per club, the longest in history, to accommodate the introduction of Gather Round, a special round featuring all 18 clubs playing in the same city and its surrounds; this was modelled on the National Rugby League (NRL)'s Magic Round, which had scheduled annually since 2019.^[1][2] South Australia won the bid for the event, beating a bid from New South Wales,^[3] and Norwood Oval and Summit Sports Park in Mount Barker each hosted their first AFL matches.^[4]

The following rule changes were made for the 2023 season:

• The number of field umpires in control of each match was increased from three to four.^[5]
• The medical substitute position, which had been introduced in 2021, was replaced with a tactical substitute; prior rules had allowed for a player to be substituted only for medical reasons, but this stipulation was removed, allowing for the substitute to be used for any reason.^[6]

Coach appointments

Club leadership

Caretaker coaches are italicised.

Pre-season

All starting times are local time. Source: afl.com.au

Season events

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge avoided showing his players an AFL memo on dangerous tackles.

Increased focus on dangerous tackles

The season saw the AFL focus more heavily on dangerous tackles and head contact amidst an increased focus worldwide on the effects of concussion in sport^[28] and a class action lodged against the league in March, headed by a group of former players seeking compensation for damage sustained from concussion-related injuries during their VFL/AFL careers.^[29] Several players received suspensions during the season for tackles of a slinging motion^[30] which would not have previously been scrutinised by the AFL's match review officer,^[31] with many of these players trying unsuccessfully to appeal their suspensions at the AFL Tribunal.^[32] St Kilda coach Ross Lyon suggested during the season that other tackling-related rule interpretations may need to change as a result of the increased focus and suspensions,^[33] while Sydney coach John Longmire said that the crackdown "[asked] a hell of a lot from our players [...] it's no surprise that it's not right all the time".^[34]

In April, players such as Dylan Shiel,^[33] Andrew McGrath and Darcy Moore called for greater clarification around rules for dangerous tackles,^[28] leading the AFL to send memos to all clubs emphasising the elements constituting a dangerous tackle and the factoring of potential to cause injury in grading of suspensions;^[35] Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge admitted that he chose not to show his team the memo to avoid "[telling] the players to go out and avoid accidents".^[36]

Hawthorn historical racism allegations

Former Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson took leave from coaching to focus on his wellbeing during the season.

In May, the AFL's investigation into historical racism allegations against the Hawthorn Football Club saw new North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson, who was coach of Hawthorn during the period being investigated, take an indefinite leave from coaching during the week leading up to what would have been his 400th game as an AFL coach^[37] to focus on his physical and emotional wellbeing, with assistant coach Brett Ratten filling in during his absence;^[38] Clarkson eventually returned as coach in round 21, coaching his 400th game in the process.^[39] Hawthorn chief executive officer Justin Reeves also resigned from his role in May, citing mental health reasons.^[40] A few days later, the AFL announced that the eight-month investigation had concluded without any findings being made or any charges brought against Clarkson and former Hawthorn officials Chris Fagan (Brisbane Lions coach at the time of the investigation) and Jason Burt,^[41] but implied that it could still take action against Hawthorn for its handling of the report that formed the basis of the investigation.^[42]

In June, following the conclusion of the AFL's investigation, six of the complainants, including former Hawthorn player Cyril Rioli and his wife, publicly identified themselves in an open letter confirming that they planned to take their case to the Australian Human Rights Commission.^[43]

Home-and-away season

All starting times are local time. Source: AFL Tables

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Round 23

Round 24

Ladder

Source: afl.com.au
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for
(P) Premiers

Progression by round

Source: AFL Tables

Home matches and membership

The following table includes all home match attendance figures from the home-and-away season, excluding neutral matches (Gather Round).

Source: AFL Tables

Finals series

Finals week 1

Finals week 2

Finals week 3

Grand final

Win/loss table

The following table can be sorted from biggest winning margin to biggest losing margin for each round. If two or more matches in a round are decided by the same margin, these margins are sorted by percentage (i.e. the lowest-scoring winning team is ranked highest and the lowest-scoring losing team is ranked lowest). Home matches are in bold, neutral matches (Gather Round) are underlined and opponents are listed above the margins.

Source: AFL Tables

Season notes

• Geelong lost its opening three matches of the season, becoming the first reigning premier since North Melbourne in 1976 to lose its first three matches the following season.^[106]
• Carlton won five consecutive matches by at least 50 points during the season, becoming the first team to do so since Geelong in 2008.^[107]
• West Coast lost five matches by over 100 points during the season, becoming the first team to do so since Greater Western Sydney in its first two seasons in 2012 and 2013;^[108] it also lost twelve consecutive matches by at least 40 points, a VFL/AFL record, during the season.^[109]
• The AFL recorded a cumulative attendance of 7,475,145 for the home-and-away season, breaking the VFL/AFL home-and-away attendance record set in 2019.^[100]
• Nine matches were attended by over 80,000 spectators (including five by over 85,000) during the home-and-away season, breaking the record of seven 80,000-plus attendances in a VFL/AFL home-and-away season set in 2013.^[100]
• Carlton qualified for its first finals appearance since 2013,^[110] eventually reaching a preliminary final for the first time since 2000.^[111]
• Geelong failed to qualify for the finals for first time since 2015.^[112]
• The AFL recorded a total club membership tally of 1,264,952 in 2023, a VFL/AFL record; 17 clubs recorded membership increases from 2022 (all clubs except Hawthorn) and 15 clubs achieved record tallies, with Collingwood (106,470) recording the largest ever club membership tally.^[100]
• Greater Western Sydney won matches at eleven different venues, a VFL/AFL record, during the season.^[113]
• The AFL recorded a cumulative attendance of 289,147 for finals week 1, breaking the VFL/AFL finals week 1 attendance record set in 2018.^[103]
• Carlton and Greater Western Sydney both reached the preliminary finals after having been in the bottom four at or beyond midseason: Greater Western Sydney was 15th after round 12, and Carlton was 15th after round 15. No team had previously achieved a comparable late-season recovery since the 1970s.^[114]
• A VFL/AFL record 57 matches (including the grand final) were decided by a margin of ten points or less, breaking the previous record of 49 matches in 2014.^[115]
• Melbourne won the McClelland Trophy, the format of which was altered to a club championship including results from both the AFL and AFL Women's 2023 seasons. Under the points system, Melbourne won 128 points with a percentage of 142.3, clear of second-place Brisbane Lions, who won 116 points and 126.4 percentage.^[116] It was Melbourne's sixth overall McClelland Trophy.

Milestones

Source: AFL Tables (players); other milestones sourced individually

Coach departures

Awards

Leading goalkickers

Source: AFL Tables

Club best and fairest

See also

• 2023 AFL Women's season

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Sources

• 2023 AFL season at afl.com.au
• 2023 AFL season at AFL Tables
• 2023 AFL season at Australian Football
• 2023 AFL season at Austadiums