The 2024 AFL season was the 128th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 7 March to 28 September, comprising a 23-match home-and-away season over 25 rounds, followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top eight clubs.
The won the premiership, defeating by 60 points in the 2024 AFL Grand Final; it was the Lions' fourth AFL premiership. Sydney won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 17–6 win–loss record. 's Patrick Cripps won his second Brownlow Medal as the league's best and fairest player, breaking the record for most votes polled using the 3–2–1 voting system with 45, and 's Jesse Hogan won the Coleman Medal as the league's leading goalkicker.
Background
In November 2023, the AFL and Seven Network announced that the usual start times for Thursday and Friday night matches would be brought forward by ten minutes to 7:30pm and 7:40pm (Melbourne time), respectively, for the upcoming season, in response to feedback from fans.
Coach appointments New coach Club Date of appointment Previous coach 21 August 2023 21 September 2023
Club leadership Caretaker coaches are italicised.
Club Coach Leadership group Captain(s) Vice-captain(s) Other leader(s) Matthew Nicks Jordan Dawson Ben Keays, Reilly O'Brien, Brodie Smith Darcy Fogarty, Mitch Hinge, Wayne Milera, Lachlan Murphy Chris Fagan Harris Andrews, Lachie Neale Josh Dunkley, Hugh McCluggage Jarrod Berry, Charlie Cameron, Oscar McInerney,Cameron Rayner, Brandon Starcevich Michael Voss Patrick Cripps Charlie Curnow, Sam Walsh, Jacob Weitering Craig McRae Darcy Moore Jeremy Howe, Brayden Maynard, Isaac Quaynor Brad Scott Zach Merrett Andrew McGrath Justin Longmuir Alex Pearce Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong Jaeger O'Meara, Sam Switkowski, Hayden Young Chris Scott Patrick Dangerfield Tom Stewart Damien Hardwick Touk Miller, Jarrod Witts Noah Anderson, Sam Collins Adam Kingsley Toby Greene Stephen Coniglio, Josh Kelly Tom Green, Connor Idun, Harry Perryman, Sam Taylor Sam Mitchell James Sicily Luke Breust, Dylan Moore Simon Goodwin Max Gawn Jack Viney Alastair Clarkson Luke McDonald, Jy Simpkin Nick Larkey Aidan Corr, Bailey Scott, Harry Sheezel Ken Hinkley Connor Rozee Zak Butters Willem Drew, Dan Houston, Sam Powell-Pepper Adem Yze Toby Nankervis Liam Baker, Tom Lynch, Jayden Short Ross Lyon Jack Steele Callum Wilkie Rowan Marshall, Seb Ross, Jack Sinclair John Longmire Callum Mills Adam Simpson ( 1–17)Jarrad Schofield ( 18–24) Oscar Allen, Liam Duggan Tom Barrass Luke Beveridge Marcus Bontempelli Tom Liberatore (), Caleb Daniel (),Aaron Naughton () Taylor Duryea, Liam Jones, Ed Richards
Pre-season All starting times are local time. Source: afl.com.au
Season events
Andrew Dillon took over as CEO of the AFL from this season, commencing in October 2023. Dillon replaced Gillon McLachlan, who had served in the role since 2014.
On 20 February 2024, goal umpire Jesse Baird was scheduled to officiate a practice match between and , but did not arrive at the match. One day later, New South Wales Police alleged Baird and his partner, Luke Davies, were murdered. Before the start of the and match, both teams formed a minute silence in the middle of the field, along with the umpires, in honoring Jesse Baird.
In an effort to grow the game in the northern states, the season featured an "Opening Round" wherein two matches in Sydney, one in Brisbane and one on the Gold Coast were played, prior to round 1. Following its successful first iteration in 2023, Gather Round, a special round featuring all 18 clubs playing in the same region, was held for the second time in South Australia; it was held in round 4, from 4 to 7 April.
Following the season, several players were sanctioned by the AFL for inappropriate costumes worn and skits performed at their Wacky Wednesday celebrations. Captain Toby Greene was among seven players fined $5,000 for lack of leadership, Josh Fahey was suspended for four matches, and five other players were each suspended for two matches.
Home-and-away season All starting times are local time. Source: afl.com.au
Opening Round
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
Progression by round
Team O 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
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).
Team Home match attendance Membership Hosted Total Highest Lowest Average 2023 2024 Change 2023 2024 Change 11 449,035 52,106 29,802 38,647 40,821 68,536 75,477 11 339,499 34,002 27,200 29,285 30,864 54,676 63,268 11 641,417 88,362 39,597 51,421 58,311 95,277 106,345 11 735,677 86,879 37,433 65,518 66,880 106,470 110,628 11 555,263 93,644 29,401 46,690 50,478 86,274 83,664 11 515,805 56,536 40,604 44,097 46,891 62,064 62,237 11 399,196 87,775 27,967 32,279 36,291 82,155 90,798 11 171,423 23,029 7,036 13,724 15,584 23,359 26,157 11 135,021 21,235 7,747 10,261 12,275 33,036 36,629 11 396,402 74,171 11,146 33,301 36,037 80,698 83,823 11 384,215 53,957 6,109 44,662 34,929 70,785 65,479 11 241,494 47,565 4,705 20,765 21,954 51,084 50,628 11 406,137 52,459 27,704 37,336 36,922 64,041 66,015 11 523,405 92,311 19,040 51,420 47,582 101,349 98,489 11 321,831 69,517 17,992 32,136 29,257 60,239 60,467 11 420,226 44,714 34,663 32,833 38,202 65,332 73,757 11 508,569 54,473 38,671 42,251 46,234 103,275 103,498 11 313,750 50,144 9,752 28,499 28,523 56,302 62,328 Total/overall 198 7,487,304 93,644 4,705 36,396 37,815 1,419 1,264,952 1,319,687 54,735
Source: AFL Tables
Finals series
All starting times are local time. Source: afl.com.au
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 multiple 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.
Team Home-and-away season Finals series O 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 F1 F2 F3 GF X X 15(8–14–1) X X 5(14–8–1) X X 8(13–10–0) X X 9(12–9–2) X X 11(11–11–1) X X 10(12–10–1) X X 3(15–8–0) X X 13(11–12–0) X X 4(15–8–0) X X 7(14–9–0) X X 14(11–12–0) X X 17(3–20–0) X X 2(16–7–0) X X 18(2–21–0) X X 12(11–12–0) X X 1(17–6–0) X X 16(5–18–0) X X 6(14–9–0)
Source: AFL Tables
Season notes In 2024, the AFL recorded the three highest-attended home-and-away rounds in VFL/AFL history, with cumulative attendances of 413,405 in round 1, 408,433 in round 7 and 403,452 in round 8, after only recording a cumulative attendance of over 400,000 once previously. For the first time in VFL/AFL history, both reigning grand finalists – and the – lost their first two matches of the following season; both clubs eventually lost their first three matches. won 13 of its first 14 matches of the season, its best start to a season since 1918. Charlie Curnow () kicked multiple goals in each of his club's first 15 matches of the season, the longest such streak since 2009. The AFL broke the record club membership tally by the end of July, a month before the cutoff date, eventually setting a new record of 1,319,687; 13 clubs achieved record tallies, with eight clubs recording increases of over 10% on their 2023 figures. qualified for finals after losing its first five matches of the season, its worst start to a season in which it qualified for finals; its four losses after round 5 were the fewest by any club for the remainder of the home-and-away season. The AFL recorded a cumulative attendance of 7,756,268 for the home-and-away season, breaking the VFL/AFL home-and-away attendance record set the previous season.
Milestones Round Player/official Club Milestone 1 200th AFL game 2 200th AFL game 250th AFL game 250th AFL game coached 350th AFL game 3 200th AFL game 250th AFL game 200th AFL game 350th AFL game 4 250th AFL game 5 250th AFL game 200th AFL game 6 — 300th AFL game goal umpired 200th AFL game 7 600th AFL goal 8 200th AFL game 9 300th AFL game 10 200th AFL game 11 200th AFL game 12 250th AFL game 14 300th AFL game 200th AFL game 15 200th AFL game 16 250th AFL game 17 250th AFL game coached 200th AFL game 18 200th AFL game 19 250th AFL game 200th AFL game 21 250th AFL game 200th AFL game 400th AFL game 200th AFL game 22 250th AFL game 250th AFL game 23 250th AFL game 24 200th AFL game 250th AFL game 200th AFL game 300th AFL game 400th AFL goal 200th AFL game 250th AFL game
Source: AFL Tables (players); other milestones sourced individually
Coach departures Outgoing coach Club Manner of departure Date of departure Caretaker coach Incoming coach Date of appointment Adam Simpson Mutually parted ways mid-season 9 July 2024 Jarrad Schofield Andrew McQualter 30 September 2024 John Longmire Resigned 26 November 2024 — Dean Cox 26 November 2024
Awards
Major awards The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to the ' Will Ashcroft. The Brownlow Medal was awarded to 's Patrick Cripps, who broke the record for most votes polled using the 3–2–1 voting system with 45. The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to the ' Marcus Bontempelli. The Coleman Medal was awarded to 's Jesse Hogan. The Goal of the Year was awarded to 's Harley Reid. The Mark of the Year was awarded to 's Bobby Hill. The AFL Rising Star was awarded to 's Ollie Dempsey.
Leading goalkickers
! rowspan=2 style=width:2em | # ! rowspan=2 | Player ! rowspan=2 | Club ! colspan=25 | Home-and-away season (Coleman Medal) ! colspan=4 | Finals series ! rowspan=2 | Total ! rowspan=2 | Games ! rowspan=2 | Average |- ! O !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! 11 !! 12 !! 13 !! 14 !! 15 !! 16 !! 17 !! 18 !! 19 !! 20 !! 21 !! 22 !! 23 !! 24 !! F1 !! F2 !! F3 !! GF |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 1 | align=left | Jesse Hogan || align=left | || 44 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 610 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 212 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | X12 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 416 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 218 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 321 || 122 || 224 || 226 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 329 || 231 || X31 || 132 || 133 || 134 || 236 || 541 || 445 || 449 || 453 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 558 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 361 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 667 || bgcolor=CCFFCC | 269 || 372 || 577 || colspan=2 | || 77 || 25 || 3.08 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 2 | align=left | Jeremy Cameron || align=left | || X0 || 22 || 24 || 26 || 28 || 614 || 014 || 519 || 019 || 120 || –20 || 121 || 122 || 224 || X24 || 327 || 229 || 433 || 336 || 137 || 239 || 645 || 146 || 349 || 958 || 462 || X62 || 264 || || 64 || 24 || 2.67 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 3 | align=left | Joe Daniher || align=left | || 11 || 34 || X4 || 15 || 510 || 212 || 012 || 012 || 214 || 115 || 318 || 220 || X20 || 222 || 527 || 330 || 232 || 032 || 234 || 337 || 239 || 443 || 245 || 449 || 150 || 252 || 456 || 056 || 258 || 58 || 27 || 2.15 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 4 | align=left | Charlie Curnow || align=left | || 44 || 26 || X6 || 410 || 313 || 417 || 320 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 323 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 225 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 227 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 229 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 433 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 336 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 238 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | X38 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 543 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 245 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 146 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 349 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 453 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 356 || 056 || 157 || –57 || –57 || –57 || colspan=3 | || 57 || 21 || 2.71 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 5