2023 AFL season facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids 2023 AFL premiership season
Date	16 March—30 September 2023
Teams	18
Premiers	Collingwood 16th premiership
Runners-up	Brisbane Lions 2nd runners-up result
Minor premiers	Collingwood 20th minor premiership
Brownlow Medallist	Lachie Neale (Brisbane Lions) 31 votes
Coleman Medallist	Charlie Curnow (Carlton) 78 goals
Attendance
Matches played	216
Total attendance	8,139,464 (37,683 per match)
Highest (H&A)	95,179 (round 6, Collingwood v Essendon)
Highest (finals)	100,024 (grand final, Collingwood v Brisbane Lions)
← 2022

The 2023 AFL season was the 127th 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 18 clubs and ran from 16 March to 30 September, comprising a 23-match home-and-away season for the first time in league history, followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.

Collingwood won its VFL/AFL record-equalling 16th premiership, defeating the Brisbane Lions by four points in the 2023 AFL Grand Final.

Background
Win/loss table
Milestones
Coach departures
Awards
- Leading goalkickers
- Club best and fairest
See also

Background

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. South Australia won the bid for the event, beating a bid from New South Wales, and Norwood Oval and Summit Sports Park in Mount Barker each hosted their first AFL matches.

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.
The medical substitute position, which had been introduced in 2021, was replaced with a tactical substitute; prior rules had only allowed for a player to be substituted for medical reasons, but this stipulation was removed, allowing for the substitute to be used for any reason.

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.

+	Win		Qualified for finals
-	Loss	X	Bye
	Draw		Eliminated

Team	Home-and-away season																								Ladder	Finals series
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	Ladder	F1	F2	F3	GF
Adelaide	13 GWS -16	15 RIC -32	03 PA +31	04 FRE +39	02 CAR +56	09 HAW +3	11 COL -1	14 GEE -26	05 STK +52	17 WB -45	04 BL +17	12 GC -25	01 WC +122	X	07 COL -2	03 NM +66	13 ESS -18	12 GWS -14	12 MEL -4	01 PA +47	04 GC +28	12 BL -6	10 SYD -1	02 WC +45	10 (11–12–0)
Brisbane Lions	17 PA -54	07 MEL +11	11 WB -14	05 COL +33	01 NM +75	06 GWS +21	03 FRE +48	06 CAR +26	06 ESS +42	03 GC +43	15 ADE -17	X	13 HAW -25	06 SYD +16	04 STK +28	01 RIC +81	01 WC +81	10 MEL -1	05 GEE +11	17 GC -41	08 FRE +3	07 ADE +6	05 COL +24	09 STK +12	2 (17–6–0)	08 PA +48	01 X	04 CAR +16	01 COL -4
Carlton	09 RIC 0	08 GEE +8	09 GWS +10	06 NM +23	17 ADE -56	14 STK -22	01 WC +108	13 BL -26	11 WB -20	14 COL -28	16 SYD -26	10 MEL -17	15 ESS -34	02 GC +59	X	04 HAW +60	03 FRE +53	02 PA +50	01 WC +71	05 COL +17	05 STK +19	08 MEL +4	08 GC +4	14 GWS -32	5 (13–9–1)	05 SYD +6	05 MEL +2	01 BL -16
Collingwood	05 GEE +22	02 PA +71	07 RIC +14	14 BL -33	08 STK +6	08 ESS +13	08 ADE +1	04 SYD +29	03 GWS +65	05 CAR +28	02 NM +35	01 WC +63	09 MEL -4	X	06 ADE +2	02 GC +78	09 WB +12	04 FRE +46	08 PA +2	14 CAR -17	16 HAW -32	06 GEE +8	14 BL -24	01 ESS +70	1 (18–5–0)	06 MEL +7	02 X	03 GWS +1	02 BL +4
Essendon	01 HAW +59	05 GC +28	13 STK -18	07 GWS +13	05 MEL +27	11 COL -13	14 GEE -28	10 PA -5	13 BL -42	09 RIC +1	01 WC +50	06 NM +6	02 CAR +34	X	10 FRE -32	12 PA -4	06 ADE +18	18 GEE -77	17 WB -41	10 SYD -2	09 WC +1	05 NM +9	18 GWS -126	18 COL -70	11 (11–12–0)
Fremantle	12 STK -15	10 NM -1	02 WC +41	15 ADE -39	07 GC +10	17 WB -49	16 BL -48	01 HAW +69	09 SYD +17	04 GEE +29	07 MEL +7	X	11 RIC -15	12 GWS -70	03 ESS +32	14 WB -29	16 CAR -53	15 COL -46	15 SYD -29	06 GEE +7	11 BL -3	01 WC +101	13 PA -16	03 HAW +37	14 (10–13–0)
Geelong	14 COL -22	11 CAR -8	15 GC -19	01 HAW +82	03 WC +47	01 SYD +93	05 ESS +28	05 ADE +26	12 RIC -24	15 FRE -29	11 GWS -7	04 WB +22	X	10 PA -38	05 MEL +15	09 SYD 0	02 NM +62	01 ESS +77	14 BL -11	13 FRE -7	06 PA +12	13 COL -8	17 STK -33	12 WB -25	12 (10–12–1)
Gold Coast	15 SYD -49	14 ESS -28	04 GEE +19	16 STK -53	12 FRE -10	03 NM +43	06 RIC +24	11 MEL -5	01 WC +70	16 BL -43	09 WB +7	03 ADE +25	X	11 CAR -59	02 HAW +67	17 COL -78	15 PA -33	06 STK +26	16 GWS -40	02 BL +41	15 ADE -28	15 SYD -24	11 CAR -4	15 NM -35	15 (9–14–0)
Greater Western Sydney	06 ADE +16	13 WC -19	10 CAR -10	12 ESS -13	09 HAW +2	13 BL -21	09 SYD +1	12 WB -15	16 COL -65	13 STK -12	08 GEE +7	08 RIC -6	03 NM +28	01 FRE +70	X	08 MEL +2	07 HAW +13	07 ADE +14	03 GC +40	08 WB +5	12 SYD -11	17 PA -51	01 ESS +126	05 CAR +32	7 (13–10–0)	07 STK +24	06 PA +23	02 COL -1
Hawthorn	18 ESS -59	18 SYD -81	05 NM +19	18 GEE -82	10 GWS -2	10 ADE -3	15 WB -29	18 FRE -69	15 MEL -54	01 WC +116	06 STK +10	13 PA -55	04 BL +25	X	11 GC -67	15 CAR -60	12 GWS -13	03 NM +48	10 RIC -1	15 STK -29	03 COL +32	09 WB +3	15 MEL -27	16 FRE -37	16 (7–16–0)
Melbourne	03 WB +50	12 BL -11	01 SYD +50	02 WC +63	14 ESS -27	07 RIC +18	02 NM +90	08 GC +5	04 HAW +54	12 PA -4	12 FRE -7	05 CAR +17	08 COL +4	X	08 GEE -15	11 GWS -2	05 STK +21	09 BL +1	07 ADE +4	03 RIC +32	02 NM +32	11 CAR -4	04 HAW +27	08 SYD +21	4 (16–7–0)	05 COL -7	04 CAR -2
North Melbourne	08 WC +5	09 FRE +1	14 HAW -19	13 CAR -23	18 BL -75	16 GC -43	17 MEL -90	16 STK -30	17 PA -70	11 SYD -3	17 COL -35	09 ESS -6	14 GWS -28	09 WB -21	X	16 ADE -66	17 GEE -62	16 HAW -48	13 STK -8	12 WC -5	17 MEL -32	14 ESS -9	16 RIC -29	04 GC +35	17 (3–20–0)
Port Adelaide	02 BL +54	17 COL -71	16 ADE -31	09 SYD +2	06 WB +14	04 WC +40	07 STK +7	09 ESS +5	02 NM +70	07 MEL +4	05 RIC +10	02 HAW +55	05 WB +22	03 GEE +38	X	07 ESS +4	04 GC +33	17 CAR -50	11 COL -2	18 ADE -47	13 GEE -12	02 GWS +51	06 FRE +16	06 RIC +31	3 (17–6–0)	01 BL -48	03 GWS -23
Richmond	10 CAR 0	04 ADE +32	12 COL -14	11 WB -5	15 SYD -44	12 MEL -18	13 GC -24	02 WC +46	07 GEE +24	10 ESS -1	14 PA -10	07 GWS +6	06 FRE +15	05 STK +20	X	18 BL -81	08 SYD +13	05 WC +38	09 HAW +1	16 MEL -32	18 WB -55	16 STK -36	03 NM +29	13 PA -31	13 (10–12–1)
St Kilda	07 FRE +15	03 WB +51	06 ESS +18	03 GC +53	11 COL -6	05 CAR +22	12 PA -7	03 NM +30	14 ADE -52	06 GWS +12	13 HAW -10	X	07 SYD +14	08 RIC -20	09 BL -28	06 WC +8	14 MEL -21	13 GC -26	06 NM +8	04 HAW +29	14 CAR -19	03 RIC +36	02 GEE +33	10 BL -12	6 (13–10–0)	02 GWS -24
Sydney	04 GC +49	01 HAW +81	18 MEL -50	10 PA -2	04 RIC +44	18 GEE -93	10 GWS -1	15 COL -29	10 FRE -17	08 NM +3	03 CAR +26	X	10 STK -14	07 BL -16	01 WC +171	10 GEE 0	11 RIC -13	08 WB +2	04 FRE +29	09 ESS +2	07 GWS +11	04 GC +24	09 ADE +1	11 MEL -21	8 (12–10–1)	04 CAR -6
West Coast	11 NM -5	06 GWS +19	17 FRE -41	17 MEL -63	16 GEE -47	15 PA -40	18 CAR -108	17 RIC -46	18 GC -70	18 HAW -116	18 ESS -50	14 COL -63	16 ADE -122	X	12 SYD -171	13 STK -8	18 BL -81	14 RIC -38	18 CAR -71	07 NM +5	10 ESS -1	18 FRE -101	07 WB +7	17 ADE -45	18 (3–20–0)
Western Bulldogs	16 MEL -50	16 STK -51	08 BL +14	08 RIC +5	13 PA -14	04 FRE +49	04 HAW +29	07 GWS +15	08 CAR +20	02 ADE +45	10 GC -7	11 GEE -22	12 PA -22	04 NM +21	X	05 FRE +29	10 COL -12	11 SYD -2	02 ESS +41	11 GWS -5	01 RIC +55	10 HAW -3	12 WC -7	07 GEE +25	9 (12–11–0)

Milestones

Rd.	Player/official/venue	Club	Milestone
1	Melbourne Cricket Ground	—	3000th VFL/AFL game hosted (Melbourne v Western Bulldogs)
1	Shiel, DylanDylan Shiel	Essendon	200th AFL game
3	Hardwick, DamienDamien Hardwick	Richmond	300th AFL game coached
3	Swallow, DavidDavid Swallow	Gold Coast	200th AFL game (first to play 200 games for Gold Coast)
5	Liberatore, TomTom Liberatore	Western Bulldogs	200th AFL game
6	Goldstein, ToddTodd Goldstein	North Melbourne	300th AFL game (100th VFL/AFL player to do so)
7	Bontempelli, MarcusMarcus Bontempelli	Western Bulldogs	200th AFL game
8	Meredith, SimonSimon Meredith	—	450th AFL game umpired
9	Prestia, DionDion Prestia	Richmond	200th AFL game
9	May, StevenSteven May	Melbourne	200th AFL game
10	Vlastuin, NickNick Vlastuin	Richmond	200th AFL game
11	Nicholls, MathewMathew Nicholls	—	400th AFL game umpired
11	Greene, TobyToby Greene	Greater Western Sydney	200th AFL game
11	Sidebottom, SteeleSteele Sidebottom	Collingwood	300th AFL game
12	Breust, LukeLuke Breust	Hawthorn	500th AFL goal
12	Crisp, JackJack Crisp	Collingwood	200th consecutive AFL game
13	Franklin, LanceLance Franklin	Sydney	350th AFL game
13	Walker, TaylorTaylor Walker	Adelaide	250th AFL game
14	Cotchin, TrentTrent Cotchin	Richmond	300th AFL game
15	Scott, ChrisChris Scott	Geelong	300th AFL game coached
17	Dixon, CharlieCharlie Dixon	Port Adelaide	200th AFL game
18	Longmire, JohnJohn Longmire	Sydney	300th AFL game coached
18	Rosebury, BrettBrett Rosebury	—	500th AFL game umpired
18	Merrett, ZachZach Merrett	Essendon	200th AFL game
18	Sloane, RoryRory Sloane	Adelaide	250th AFL game
18	Whitfield, LachieLachie Whitfield	Greater Western Sydney	200th AFL game
18	Darling, JackJack Darling	West Coast	500th AFL goal
19	Adams, TaylorTaylor Adams	Collingwood	200th AFL game
21	Haynes, NickNick Haynes	Greater Western Sydney	200th AFL game
21	Clarkson, AlastairAlastair Clarkson	North Melbourne	400th AFL game coached
22	Walker, TaylorTaylor Walker	Adelaide	600th AFL goal
23	Hoskin-Elliott, WillWill Hoskin-Elliott	Collingwood	200th AFL game
23	Gawn, MaxMax Gawn	Melbourne	200th AFL game
24	Coniglio, StephenStephen Coniglio	Greater Western Sydney	200th AFL game
25 FW1	Cameron, CharlieCharlie Cameron	Brisbane Lions	200th AFL game
28 GF	Zorko, DayneDayne Zorko	Brisbane Lions	250th AFL game

Coach departures

Outgoing coach	Club	Manner of departure	Date of departure	Caretaker coach	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
Damien Hardwick	Richmond	Stepped down mid-season	23 May 2023	Andrew McQualter	Adem Yze	21 September 2023
Stuart Dew	Gold Coast	Dismissed mid-season	11 July 2023	Steven King	Damien Hardwick	21 August 2023

Awards

Leading goalkickers

1	Led the goalkicking at the end of the round
1	Led the goalkicking at the end of the home-and-away season
1₁	Subscript indicates the player's goal tally to that point of the season
–	Did not play during that round
X	Had a bye during that round

#	Player	Club	Home-and-away season (Coleman Medal)																								Finals series				Total	Games	Average
#	Player	Club	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	Total	Games	Average
1	Charlie Curnow	Carlton	3₃	5₈	2₁₀	6₁₆	2₁₈	3₂₁	9₃₀	1₃₁	2₃₃	3₃₆	1₃₇	1₃₈	2₄₀	2₄₂	X₄₂	3₄₅	3₄₈	3₅₁	10₆₁	6₆₇	1₆₈	2₇₀	5₇₅	3₇₈	1₇₉	1₈₀	1₈₁		81	26	3.12
2	Taylor Walker	Adelaide	1₁	2₃	0₃	4₇	3₁₀	4₁₄	1₁₅	3₁₈	5₂₃	–₂₃	3₂₆	2₂₈	10₃₈	X₃₈	5₄₃	3₄₆	2₄₈	2₅₀	4₅₄	7₆₁	2₆₃	2₆₅	2₆₇	9₇₆					76	22	3.45
3	Nick Larkey	North Melbourne	6₆	4₁₀	2₁₂	0₁₂	1₁₃	1₁₄	2₁₆	3₁₉	4₂₃	2₂₅	5₃₀	2₃₂	4₃₆	3₃₉	X₃₉	3₄₂	2₄₄	1₄₅	3₄₈	2₅₀	1₅₁	5₅₆	6₆₂	9₇₁					71	23	3.09
4	Toby Greene	Greater Western Sydney	4₄	4₈	1₉	2₁₁	3₁₄	2₁₆	4₂₀	–₂₀	–₂₀	2₂₂	4₂₆	3₂₉	3₃₂	4₃₆	X₃₆	2₃₈	0₃₈	3₄₁	3₄₄	5₄₉	3₅₂	2₅₄	2₅₆	4₆₀	1₆₁	3₆₄	2₆₆		66	24	2.75
5	Joe Daniher	Brisbane Lions	1₁	4₅	0₅	2₇	5₁₂	1₁₃	3₁₆	2₁₈	6₂₄	4₂₈	2₃₀	X₃₀	0₃₀	2₃₂	2₃₄	5₃₉	0₃₉	2₄₁	2₄₃	0₄₃	2₄₅	1₄₆	3₄₉	2₅₁	5₅₆	X₅₆	2₅₈	3₆₁	61	26	2.35
6	Charlie Cameron	Brisbane Lions	0₀	2₂	1₃	6₉	4₁₃	7₂₀	2₂₂	4₂₆	0₂₆	2₂₈	4₃₂	X₃₂	2₃₄	0₃₄	1₃₅	2₃₇	0₃₇	2₃₉	1₄₀	2₄₂	2₄₄	3₄₇	4₅₁	2₅₃	2₅₅	X₅₅	1₅₆	3₅₉	59	26	2.27
7	Oscar Allen	West Coast	2₂	2₄	3₇	3₁₀	4₁₄	2₁₆	2₁₈	4₂₂	2₂₄	1₂₅	4₂₉	3₃₂	1₃₃	X₃₃	2₃₅	2₃₇	1₃₈	3₄₁	0₄₁	2₄₃	2₄₅	1₄₆	3₄₉	4₅₃					53	23	2.30
7	Jeremy Cameron	Geelong	2₂	6₈	3₁₁	7₁₈	4₂₂	5₂₇	3₃₀	3₃₃	1₃₄	0₃₄	2₃₆	2₃₈	X₃₈	1₃₉	0₃₉	–₃₉	–₃₉	1₄₀	3₄₃	1₄₄	2₄₆	7₅₃	0₅₃	–₅₃					53	20	2.65
9	Kyle Langford	Essendon	0₀	5₅	1₆	1₇	2₉	3₁₂	0₁₂	2₁₄	2₁₆	1₁₇	3₂₀	4₂₄	1₂₅	X₂₅	1₂₆	3₂₉	3₃₂	1₃₃	2₃₅	5₄₀	5₄₅	3₄₈	2₅₀	1₅₁					51	23	2.22
10	Tom Hawkins	Geelong	2₂	1₃	0₃	2₅	4₉	5₁₄	8₂₂	1₂₃	3₂₆	3₂₉	1₃₀	2₃₂	X₃₂	2₃₄	1₃₅	2₃₇	3₄₀	5₄₅	0₄₅	2₄₇	–₄₇	–₄₇	2₄₉	–₄₉					49	20	2.45
10	Jesse Hogan	Greater Western Sydney	3₃	3₆	2₈	0₈	2₁₀	2₁₂	2₁₄	2₁₆	3₁₉	2₂₁	0₂₁	1₂₂	2₂₄	–₂₄	X₂₄	0₂₄	4₂₈	1₂₉	–₂₉	–₂₉	2₃₁	1₃₂	9₄₁	1₄₂	2₄₄	4₄₈	1₄₉		49	23	2.13

Club best and fairest

Club	Award	Player
Adelaide	Malcolm Blight Medal
Brisbane Lions	Merrett–Murray Medal
Carlton	John Nicholls Medal
Collingwood	Copeland Trophy
Essendon	Crichton Medal
Fremantle	Doig Medal	Caleb Serong
Geelong	Carji Greeves Medal
Gold Coast	Club Champion	Noah Anderson
Greater Western Sydney	Kevin Sheedy Medal
Hawthorn	Peter Crimmins Medal
Melbourne	Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy
North Melbourne	Syd Barker Medal	Harry Sheezel
Port Adelaide	John Cahill Medal
Richmond	Jack Dyer Medal
St Kilda	Trevor Barker Award
Sydney	Bob Skilton Medal
West Coast	John Worsfold Medal	Tim Kelly
Western Bulldogs	Charles Sutton Medal