The 2026 AFL season was the 130th 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 5 March to 26 September, comprising a 23-match home-and-away season over 25 rounds, with a five-week finals series featuring the top ten clubs occurring for the first time.
The won the premiership, defeating by seven points in the 2026 AFL Grand Final; it was their third consecutive premiership and sixth AFL premiership overall. Fremantle won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 19–4 win–loss record. 's Nick Daicos won the Brownlow Medal as the league's best and fairest player and 's Charlie Curnow won his third Coleman Medal as the league's leading goalkicker.
Background In October 2025, the AFL announced two major changes to be brought into the competition for the 2026 season: the substitute rule was removed in favour of a five-player interchange; and the ball would no longer be bounced in the centre of the ground by a field umpire at the start of quarters and after goals, and would be thrown up instead. The removal of the centre bounce ended a tradition dating back to 1887, with AFL executive general manager of football performance Greg Swann explaining that the skill of bouncing the ball was hindering the development of umpires and that the change would allow umpires to focus more on decision-making and reduce the likelihood of players making accidental umpire contact. The AFL announced seven rule changes to reduce game length by approximately three minutes:
The 6–6–6 rule would no longer require at least one player from each team to be in the goalsquare for centre ball-ups. A 'last disposal' free kick would be awarded if the ball crossed the boundary line from a disposal between the 50-metre arcs, unless a nearby player does not attempt to play the ball or blocks an opponent. Ruckmen would no longer be allowed to cross the centre line during centre ball-ups, intended to increase the frequency of jumping ruck contests. Players taking kick-ins would only be given eight seconds to restart play, down from approximately twelve seconds. Field umpires could immediately restart play at around-the-ground ball-ups if a nominated ruckman was too far away or no nomination was made, however the 'third man up' was still not allowed. Players who shrug a tackle would be deemed to have had prior opportunity when considering holding the ball free kicks. Players inside the five-metre protected area after a mark or free kick to an opponent would be required to stand the mark and would no longer be allowed to move out of the area.
Last disposal out of bounds decisions fell within the purview of decisions reviewable by the AFL Review Centre (ARC), as had all out of bounds decisions since the 2025 finals series. There was a key error late in the Geelong v Adelaide match in round 3: the boundary umpire incorrectly paid a last disposal free kick to Geelong instead of Adelaide, and Geelong restarted play before ARC had a chance to intervene, ultimately resulting in a goal to Geelong who won by eight points. The AFL admitted the error the following day and announced a review of its ARC review processes.
The AFL introduced a wildcard finals round, adding an extra week to the existing finals series and increasing the number of finalists from eight to ten; at the end of the home-and-away season, the seventh-placed team would host the tenth-placed team and eighth would host ninth in wildcard finals, before the remainder of the finals series would continue as per the previous final eight system. The change was the first change to the AFL finals system since 2000. The change was negatively received by the AFL Fans Association; however, sports rights analyst Colin Smith explained that the league was protecting the value of the current $4.5 billion broadcast right deal by implementing the new system, with more finalists meaning fewer dead rubber matches later in the home-and-away season.
A State of Origin match took place for the first time since 1999, with Western Australia playing Victoria at Optus Stadium in February 2026; Victoria won the match by 24 points.
Rules governing voting for the Brownlow Medal were changed, to provide umpires a set of player statistics prior to the lodging of votes.
Coach appointments New coach Club Date of appointment Previous coach Josh Carr 12 February 2025 Ken Hinkley Steven King 12 September 2025 Simon Goodwin
Club leadership
Club Coach Leadership group Captain(s) Vice-captain(s) Other leader(s) Matthew Nicks Jordan Dawson Ben Keays, Alex Neal-Bullen Isaac Cumming, Darcy Fogarty, Reilly O'Brien, Riley Thilthorpe Chris Fagan Harris Andrews, Josh Dunkley,Hugh McCluggage Oscar Allen, Will Ashcroft, Jarrod Berry, Jaspa Fletcher, Cam Rayner Michael Voss Patrick Cripps Sam Walsh, Jacob Weitering Craig McRae Darcy Moore Nick Daicos, Brayden Maynard Darcy Cameron, Jamie Elliott, Isaac Quaynor, Lachie Schultz Brad Scott Andrew McGrath Jye Caldwell, Sam Durham, Brayden Fiorini, Kyle Langford, Nic Martin, Mason Redman Justin Longmuir Alex Pearce Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong Jordan Clark, Jaeger O'Meara, Sam Switkowski, Josh Treacy, Hayden Young Chris Scott Patrick Dangerfield Tom Stewart Damien Hardwick Noah Anderson Sam Collins, Touk Miller Ben King, Wil Powell, Matt Rowell Adam Kingsley Toby Greene Jack Buckley, Tom Green, Connor Idun Sam Mitchell Jai Newcombe, James Sicily Steven King Max Gawn Jack Viney Alastair Clarkson Nick Larkey Harry Sheezel Charlie Comben, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Tristan Xerri, Cameron Zurhaar Josh Carr Connor Rozee Zak Butters, Willem Drew Aliir Aliir, Miles Bergman, Mitch Georgiades, Jack Lukosius Adem Yze Toby Nankervis Tim Taranto Nathan Broad, Tom Lynch, Jack Ross, Jayden Short Ross Lyon Jack Sinclair, Callum Wilkie Mitch Owens, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, Marcus Windhager, Mason Wood Dean Cox Callum Mills Isaac Heeney Andrew McQualter Liam Baker, Liam Duggan Matt Flynn, Reuben Ginbey, Jack Graham, Brandon Starcevich, Jake Waterman Luke Beveridge Marcus Bontempelli Aaron Naughton, Ed Richards Bailey Dale, Matthew Kennedy, Tom Liberatore, Cody Weightman, Rhylee West
Pre-season
State of Origin
Starting time is local time. Source: afl.com.au
Practice matches All starting times are local time. Source: afl.com.au
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 2025 2026 Change 2025 2026 Change 11 512,069 53,045 40,165 45,120 46,552 81,067 11 346,017 34,648 29,221 30,598 31,456 75,115 11 583,622 78,058 26,945 49,182 53,057 100,743 11 720,868 90,028 40,860 68,873 65,533 112,491 11 461,008 92,231 14,601 40,034 41,910 85,568 11 568,847 56,616 35,245 45,758 51,713 66,179 11 377,165 83,166 20,403 35,439 34,288 92,379 11 179,949 21,139 10,672 15,679 16,359 30,107 11 128,399 20,141 5,814 12,026 11,673 37,705 11 418,588 84,712 8,263 41,484 38,053 87,204 11 410,893 68,557 6,374 36,805 37,354 58,563 11 329,108 45,919 13,331 25,266 29,919 56,283 11 387,891 50,087 28,417 35,556 35,263 72,656 11 458,884 78,815 10,200 44,398 41,717 92,531 11 368,549 82,528 14,429 31,644 33,504 65,509 11 422,654 43,986 30,058 34,277 38,423 76,674 11 493,276 54,232 36,781 42,576 44,843 107,079 11 335,818 44,106 22,761 36,764 30,529 65,584 Total/overall 198 7,503,081 92,231 5,814 37,306 37,894 588 1,363,437
Source: AFL Tables
Finals series
All starting times are local time. Source: afl.com.au
Finals week 1
Finals week 2
Finals week 3
Finals week 4
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 F4 GF X X 6(15–8–0) X X 3(16–7–0) X X 10(12–10–1) X X 9(12–9–2) X X 18(2–21–0) X X 1(19–4–0) X X 5(15–8–0) X X 13(9–14–0) X X 12(10–13–0) X X 4(15–6–2) X X 7(15–8–0) X X 14(9–14–0) X X 15(7–16–0) X X 17(3–20–0) X X 11(10–13–0) X X 2(18–5–0) X X 16(4–19–0) X X 8(13–9–1)
Source: AFL Tables
Season notes In round 13, the AFL recorded a combined attendance of 390,752, the highest for an eight-match home-and-away round in VFL/AFL history; the round also saw a total television viewership of over 7.2 million, the highest viewership for a home-and-away round in VFL/AFL history despite only eight matches being played. won 14 consecutive matches during the season, breaking 's record of 12 in 1991 for the longest winning streak of the Western Australia-based AFL clubs. Fremantle recorded crowds of over 50,000 in nine consecutive home matches during the home-and-away season, a VFL/AFL record. and drew both of their home-and-away match-ups, becoming the first clubs in VFL/AFL history to do so in the same season; both matches ended with shots at goal at or after the final siren by Dylan Moore () and produced almost identical scorelines: 93–93 in round 8 and 92–92 in round 23. won two matches during the home-and-away season, the equal-fewest in the club's history. New records for combined (7,772,015) and average attendance (37,545) were set during the home-and-away season, along with new records for combined crowds in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland.
Notable events
Five players, Riley Bice, Nick Blakey, Isaac Heeney, James Jordon and Chad Warner, were suspended by the club for the remainder of the season on 19 August 2026, following their involvement in an incident at an East Melbourne hotel that succeeded the club's 36-point victory over in round 23. The matter is currently being investigated as a sexual assault by Victoria Police; as of August 2026, no charges have been laid.
Milestones Round Player/official Club Milestone 300th AFL goal 400th AFL goal 200th AFL game 1 200th AFL game 200th AFL game 200th AFL goal 200th AFL game 3 400th AFL goal 250th AFL game 250th AFL game 4 200th AFL game 300th AFL goal 5 250th AFL game 6 300th AFL game 200th AFL game 200th AFL game 200th AFL game 300th AFL game 200th AFL goal 7 300th AFL goal 8 300th AFL goal 250th AFL game 9 200th AFL game 200th AFL goal 10 200th AFL goal 11 200th AFL game 200th AFL game 13 — 400th AFL game umpired 14 250th AFL game 200th AFL game 15 200th AFL game 16 200th AFL goal 17 300th AFL goal 200th AFL game 18 200th AFL game 19 250th AFL game 500th AFL goal 20 200th AFL game 700th AFL goal 600th AFL goal 21 250th AFL game 250th AFL game 22 250th AFL game 200th AFL game 300th AFL goal 23 200th AFL game 250th AFL game 200th AFL game 200th AFL game 24 300th AFL game 300th AFL goal 250th AFL game 200th AFL game 300th AFL game
Source: AFL Tables (players); other milestones sourced individually
Coach departures