WITH non-Victorian clubs dominating the upper reaches of the ladder, the emergence of 'Hokball', some unforgettable finals and as close a season as you could hope for, 2024 delivered on all fronts.
From Harry McKay's Opening Round heroics at the Gabba, to Port Adelaide's miraculous escape in the wet against Hawthorn to Brisbane's remarkable come-from-behind semi-final win over Greater Western Sydney, we were blessed with more football drama than you could ask for.
As the year draws to an end, AFL.com.au has trawled through all 216 games and identified the best 12 from the season.
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Carlton 13.8 (86) d Brisbane 12.13 (85), OR
What a start to the season. The Lions played some of their best football under Chris Fagan to storm to a 46-point first-half lead as Sam Docherty and Keidean Coleman would suffer ruptured ACLs. Led by a withering Charlie Curnow burst in the third quarter the Blues fought back, setting up a dramatic finish. It looked like the home team would hang on until Harry McKay marked in front of Harris Andrews, and then pushing his goalkicking demons aside, would slot the winner from 45m with just a minute remaining.
LIONS v BLUES Full match coverage and stats
Essendon 10.18 (78) d Adelaide 11.9 (75), R6
Essendon continued its fine start to the season with a win at Adelaide Oval, but it came in the most controversial of circumstances. Leading by three points and defending grimly against their desperate opponents, the Bombers were scrambling to create late stoppages when ruckman Sam Draper simply laid on the ball 30m from goal. The umpire called for a ball-up, ending the game – a decision the AFL later admitted was wrong, denying the home team a chance at a match-winning shot at goal. Zach Merrett and Jade Gresham had big nights, while Nic Martin kicked the game's final goal to cap his influential performance.
CROWS v BOMBERS Full match coverage and stats
Essendon 12.13 (85) drew with Collingwood 12.13 (85), R7
An incredible contest on one of the game's biggest stages, with this year's Anzac Day battle finishing in a draw, just like the inaugural contest in 1995. And it came with plenty of drama. Contested in front of a bumper MCG crowd of 93,000, Kyle Langford, who had played superbly with four goals, had the chance to be a hero, but his set shot from 30m sailed wide to level the scores. Just moments earlier, it was Brody Mihocek who spurned two chances at the other end to build on the Magpies' lead, spraying shots out on the full. This was also the day Jamie Elliott would write his name into folklore with a skyscraping mark that will live long in the memory.
BOMBERS v MAGPIES Full match coverage and stats
Collingwood 12.13 (85) d Carlton 12.7 (79), R8
Just a week after the Anzac Day draw came another classic between two huge rivals, but on this occasion, Nick Daicos made sure there would be no sharing of the premiership points. With just over a minute remaining and the scores deadlocked, the little Magpie wizard kicked a memorable goal on the run to snatch victory with more than 88,000 fans watching on. It capped a best on ground performance from Daicos, who lifted big time in the absence of injured teammates Jordan De Goey and Tom Mitchell.
BLUES v MAGPIES Full match coverage and stats
Port Adelaide 11.14 (80) d Hawthorn 12.7 (79), R10
You had to see the finish of this game to believe it. Not only did Hawthorn lead by 40 points during the third quarter at a wet Adelaide Oval, but Sam Mitchell's upstart team still had an 11-point advantage inside the final minute. With the ball on the wing and just 45 seconds remaining, Channel Seven commentator Campbell Brown infamously said: "they’re home", referring to his former club. How wrong he was. Willie Rioli quickly closed the gap with a long bomb and from the ensuing centre clearance, Port scrambled the ball forward for Darcy Byrne-Jones to kick it off the ground and secure one of the more improbable victories we're all likely to see.
POWER v HAWKS Full match coverage and stats
Fremantle 15.9 (99) d Sydney 14.14 (98), R16
This was more a statement by the Dockers than an upset, but snapping Sydney's 10-game winning streak was a performance that made the competition sit up and take notice. It was just the Swans' second loss of the season and came after Logan McDonald had a chance to snatch victory – or a draw – after the siren. However, the young forward's kick from 50m failed to make the distance and the Dockers held on. They had stormed out of the blocks with seven opening quarter goals, and despite Sydney's best efforts, had their noses in front all day.
SWANS v DOCKERS Full match coverage and stats
Brisbane 11.13 (79) d Sydney 11.11 (77), R19
At the time it was billed as a possible Grand Final preview, and the contest this warm Sunday afternoon at the Gabba provided might have been more fitting than the actual decider we got. Losing Tom Papley and Dan Rampe to injury in the first half, and with forward Will Hayward hobbling out of the goalsquare, the Swans threw everything at the Lions. Trailing by 15 points at the final change, Hugh McCluggage would lift the home team, and like two horses bobbing heads for a finish line as the lead continued to change hands, Brisbane rode home on the back of a brilliant Cal Ah Chee snap.
LIONS v SWANS Full match coverage and stats
Collingwood 11.13 (79) d Brisbane 11.12 (78), R23
A rematch of the 2023 Grand Final – the second of the season – was an absolute belter. Collingwood still had hopes of qualifying for the finals, while Brisbane was desperate to win and keep itself in the race for the top four. After surging to an early lead, the Lions would stagnate in the second half as the hosts mowed them down in front of a raucous MCG crowd. Two goals to Lachie Schultz and the game-winner from a forward 50 stoppage to Beau McCreery capped the comeback. Brisbane would rue a host of simple misses, by Joe Daniher, Zac Bailey and Cam Rayner, that could have iced the game.
MAGPIES v LIONS Full match coverage and stats
Sydney 13.10 (88) d Greater Western Sydney 12.10 (82), QF
One of, if not the, best rivalries in the competition delivered again. For much of this SCG qualifying final it looked like the Giants would keep their stranglehold over the Swans in September match-ups, but Isaac Heeney had other ideas. Starting off with a barely-believable, and potentially dangerous, speccy over Jack Buckley, Heeney simply took over. His 30 disposals and three goals was one of the best individual finals performances in recent memory, capped by his match-levelling bomb from the centre square. Joel Amartey completed the comeback with the final goal and the Swans were through to a preliminary final.
SWANS v GIANTS Full match coverage and stats
Port Adelaide 11.9 (75) d Hawthorn 11.6 (72), SF
The backdrop to this game, as much as the contest, makes this one so memorable. A cheeky Jack Ginnivan Instagram message to former teammate Brodie Grundy – suggesting he'd see him in preliminary final week in Sydney – had a bigger impact than the small forward could have imagined. Going into the contest as underdogs, Port Adelaide revved its intensity through the roof, riding a breakout performance from Jase Burgoyne and an influential outing from Willie Rioli to win in a tense finish. Ken Hinkley was quick to remind Ginnivan post-siren he wouldn’t be flying anywhere to play the next week, sparking an unforgettable on-field exchange between the teams.
POWER v HAWKS Full match coverage and stats
Brisbane 15.15 (105) d Greater Western Sydney 15.10 (100), SF
Forty-four points down, on the road, more than halfway through the third quarter, Brisbane's season looked over. But Chris Fagan's men had other ideas. Quickly cutting into the lead before Greater Western Sydney steadied either side of the last break, the Lions kicked the final six goals of the game to snatch a preliminary final spot. And fittingly, it was big-game forward Joe Daniher that iced it, first threading a set shot from the boundary line and then outmarking Sam Taylor one-on-one before slotting the winner just moments later. It was a result the Lions and their fans will never forget.
GIANTS v LIONS Full match coverage and stats
Brisbane 14.11 (95) d Geelong 12.13 (85), PF
The further the season goes, the higher the stakes, and this match on the penultimate weekend had a bit of everything. Geelong took control with a huge second quarter and led by 25 points early in the third before the Comeback Kid Lions began to surge. The final five minutes of the match was littered with enormous moments – a huge Cam Rayner mark, a brilliant Tom Stewart tackle to stop goalbound Zac Bailey, Ollie Henry's incredible snap to give the Cats the lead, Cal Ah Chee's instinctive finish to snatch it back, Rayner's dart from 50m to give Brisbane breathing space and finally Jack Payne's goalsaving tackle on Mitch Duncan. What a contest between two evenly matched teams.
CATS v LIONS Full match coverage and stats
