2018 AFL season

The 2018 AFL season was the 122nd season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured eighteen clubs, ran from 22 March until 29 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.

The premiership was won by the West Coast Eagles for the fourth time, after it defeated by five points in the AFL Grand Final.

Pre-season The pre-season began with the 2018 AFLX competition. Played under modified AFLX rules, the game is played on a soccer-sized pitch over two ten minute halves by teams of seven players plus interchange players. It was the first of two AFLX pre-season competitions to be held featuring AFL players. The matches were played from 15–17 February 2018. The winners of the competition were Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The pre-season series was then played, known as the 2018 JLT Community Series. The number of games was reduced compared to the previous season, with teams playing two games each. The games were stand-alone, with no overall winner of the series. Each team played two games, many at suburban or regional venues. All matches were televised live on Fox Footy as well as on the AFL Live app. The nine-point super goal for a goal kicked from beyond 50m was eliminated from the rules; it had featured in all pre-season competitions since 2003.

Premiership season

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

Season notes lost its first seven matches, the longest losing streak to start a season in the club's history. Carlton's total of two wins for the season was the club's fewest wins in a season since 1901. qualified for the finals for the first time since 2006.

Win/loss table Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 F1 F2 F3 GF Ladder XXXXX12 XXXXX15 XXXXX18 X3 XXXXX11 XXXXX14 XXXX8 XXXXX17 XXX7 XXX4 XX5 XXXXX9 XXXXX10 XXX1 XXXXX16 XXXX6 XX2 (P) XXXXX13 Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 F1 F2 F3 GF Ladder

Bold – Home game X – Bye Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

Ladder progression Numbers highlighted in green indicates the team finished the round inside the top 8. Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished in first place on the ladder in that round. Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round. Underlined numbers indicates the team had a bye during that round. Subscript numbers indicate ladder position at round's end.

Team1234567891011121314151617181920212223  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Positions of teams round by round

Finals series

Week one

Week two

Week three

Week four

Finals notes qualified for a preliminary final for the first time since 2000, and qualified for the finals for the first time since 2006. qualified for the grand final for the first time since 2011, and qualified for the finals for the first time since 2013.

Attendances

By club + 2018 AFL attendances Club Total Games Avg. per game Home total Home games Home avg. 22 11 22 11 22 11 26 11 22 11 22 11 23 11 22 11 24 11 24 11 25 11 22 11 22 11 24 11 22 11 23 11 25 11 22 11

By ground + 2018 ground attendances Ground Total Games Avg. per game Adelaide Arena at Jiangwan Stadium 1 Adelaide Oval 22 Blundstone Arena 3 Cazalys Stadium 1 Etihad Stadium 45 Gabba 12 GMHBA Stadium 9 Mars Stadium 2 MCG 50 Metricon Stadium 7 Optus Stadium 25 SCG 12 Spotless Stadium 8 TIO Stadium 1 TIO Traeger Park 1 University of Tasmania Stadium 4 UNSW Canberra Oval 3

Awards

The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Tom Mitchell of who polled 28 votes. The Coleman Medal was awarded to Jack Riewoldt of , who kicked 65 goals during the home and away season. It was the third time Riewoldt has won the award. The Ron Evans Medal was awarded to Jaidyn Stephenson of , who received 52 votes. The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Luke Shuey of . The AFL Goal of the Year was awarded to Jack Higgins of for his goal against in round 19. The AFL Mark of the Year was awarded to Isaac Heeney of for his mark against in round 21. The McClelland Trophy was awarded to for the first time since 1982. The wooden spoon was "awarded" to for the first time since 2015 after obtaining a club low two wins during the season. The AFL Players Association Awards: The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Tom Mitchell of polling 773 votes ahead of Patrick Cripps who polled 529. The Robert Rose Award was awarded to Callan Ward of . The best captain was awarded to Trent Cotchin of . The best first year player was awarded to Tim Kelly of . The 22under22 team captaincy was awarded to Marcus Bontempelli of the for the third year in a row. The AFL Coaches Association Awards: The AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year Award was awarded to Max Gawn of who received 97 votes ahead of Patrick Cripps who received 91. The Gary Ayres Award for the best player in the finals series was awarded to Steele Sidebottom of who polled 23 votes ahead of teammate Taylor Adams on 18. The Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year Award was awarded to coach Nathan Buckley. The Assistant Coach of the Year Award was awarded to assistant Rhyce Shaw for the second year in a row. The Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Alan Stewart for his contribution to football in South Australia. The Best Young Player Award was awarded to Tom Stewart of who received 40 votes. The Media Award was awarded to Gerard Whateley for the fifth consecutive year. The Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award was awarded to Neville Jetta of . Milestones

Name Club Milestone RoundRef.

Coleman Medal Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the Coleman Medal at the end of that round. Numbers underlined indicates the player did not play in that round. Player1234567891011121314151617181920212223Total 1Jack Riewoldt 44 04 48 19 211 314 317 219 524 024 125 328 230 030 333 235 237 441 344 448 1058 260 565 65 2Ben Brown 00 66 410 515 419 423 124 226 531 233 235 035 035 540 242 446 450 252 153 154 458 058 361 61 3Tom Hawkins 00 11 34 04 04 26 410 010 313 316 319 322 325 025 328 533 437 744 751 152 153 659 261 61 4Lance Franklin 88 412 214 317 118 018 018 018 321 122 325 429 231 031 435 439 342 042 244 650 252 557 057 57 5Luke Breust 44 04 37 411 516 319 120 323 023 023 124 024 125 227 330 636 036 541 445 348 250 252 153 53 6Jack Gunston 22 24 04 26 28 311 112 517 421 021 021 021 122 325 025 429 231 233 235 540 242 446 248 51Tom McDonald 00 00 00 00 00 22 24 59 413 215 419 625 025 328 129 130 333 437 340 040 242 345 348 8Jesse Hogan 33 58 19 110 212 214 317 320 121 526 531 031 031 031 334 236 440 141 142 446 147 047 047 47 9Josh Jenkins 22 57 18 08 311 011 314 115 116 117 118 220 121 021 223 326 228 230 030 333 336 339 746 46 10Josh Caddy 33 36 06 17 07 411 112 416 117 623 427 027 128 028 129 231 132 233 135 035 439 443 144 44

Best and fairest Club Award name Player Malcolm Blight Medal Merrett–Murray Medal John Nicholls Medal Copeland Trophy & Brodie Grundy W. S. Crichton Medal Doig Medal Carji Greeves Medal Club Champion Kevin Sheedy Medal Peter Crimmins Medal Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy Syd Barker Medal John Cahill Medal Jack Dyer Medal Trevor Barker Award Bob Skilton Medal John Worsfold Medal Charles Sutton Medal Source: Foxsports

Club leadership + Table of clubs' coaches and captains in the 2018 seasonClubCoachCaptain(s) (until 23 May) (from 23 May) (until 2 August)

Club membership + 2018 AFL membership figures Club Members Change from 2017% Change from 2017 64,739 24,867 56,005 75,507 79,319 55,639 63,818 12,108 25,243 80,302 44,275 40,789 54,386 100,726 46,301 60,934 80,290 43,246 Total 1,008,494 100,933 11.12%

See also

2018 AFL Women's season

References