2015 AFL season

For the 2015 season of the Arena Football League, see 2015 Arena Football League season.

The 2015 AFL season was the 119th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured eighteen clubs, ran from 2 April until 3 October, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.

2015 AFL premiership season
Teams	18
Premiers	Hawthorn 13th premiership
Minor premiers	Fremantle 1st minor premiership
Brownlow Medallist	Nat Fyfe Fremantle (31 votes)
Coleman Medallist	Josh Kennedy West Coast (75 goals)
Attendance
Matches played	206
Total attendance	6,886,266 (33,428 per match)
Highest (H&A)	88,395 (round 4, Essendon v Collingwood)
Highest (finals)	98,633 (Grand Final, Hawthorn vs. West Coast)
← 2014 2016 →

The premiership was won by the Hawthorn Football Club for the 13th time and third time consecutively, after it defeated West Coast by 46 points in the 2015 AFL Grand Final.

The season was marred by the mid-season death of Adelaide senior coach Phil Walsh, who was the victim of a domestic incident. Adelaide's following match was cancelled.^[1]

Pre-season

All Stars game

The biennial All Stars game, this year played in Western Australia, featuring an AFL team and the Indigenous All Stars team made up of some of the best Indigenous players in the game, returned for the 2015 pre-season. The West Coast Eagles were selected as the AFL team to play in the game, which was played at Medibank Stadium in Perth.^[2][3]

	2015 Indigenous All Stars Game
Friday, 20 February 7:45 pm (AWST)	Indigenous All Stars	def. by	West Coast	Medibank Stadium (crowd: 10,000)	Report
	1.2 (8) 5.6 (36) 5.9 (39)  5.11 (41)	Q1 Q2 Q3  Final	3.2 (20) 4.2 (26) 5.5 (35)  7.7 (49)	Polly Farmer Medal: Shaun Burgoyne^[4]
Edwards, Jetta, Yarran, Pickett, B.Hill		Goals	McGovern, Sheppard, Wellingham, Gaff, Cripps, Powell, Lamb
Burgoyne, Harbrow, Martin, B.Hill, S.Hill		Best	Wellingham, Masten, Gaff, Schofield, Sinclair, Cripps
Nil		Injuries	Nil
Nil		Reports	Nil

NAB Challenge

Main article: 2015 NAB Challenge

For the second consecutive year, the NAB Challenge series took place, featuring 27 practice matches played over 25 days, beginning 26 February and ending 22 March. The matches were stand-alone in nature, with no overall winner crowned for the series.^[5] Each team played three pre-season games, many of which were played at suburban or regional venues, with most games televised on Fox Footy. The Super Goal was retained for these matches.

Premiership season

Notable features of the draw include:

• To address poor attendances and late-finishing matches, all Saturday night matches on the east coast were brought forward by 20 minutes, with matches in this timeslot now starting at 7:20 pm and Saturday twilight matches were brought forward by five minutes to start at 4:35 pm. Matches in Adelaide and Perth retained their respective local starting times of 7:10 pm and 5:40 pm.^[6]
• Many of the grounds used by the AFL hosted games in the 2015 Cricket World Cup, which ended on 29 March. Consequently, the season started and finished slightly later than in previous years, with the Grand Final scheduled for the first Saturday in October instead of the customary last Saturday in September.
• Due to the Sydney Royal Easter Show, Greater Western Sydney's primary home ground (Spotless Stadium) was unavailable until round 6, therefore the club's first two home games were at its secondary home ground, StarTrack Oval, in rounds 2 and 4.^[7]
• Mother's Day Round (Round 6) saw six matches played on Saturday instead of the usual five, with only two matches played on Mother's Day itself.^[8] This was repeated in round 23, with no twilight game on the Sunday.^[9]
• The Friday before the Grand Final became a public holiday in Victoria, following an election promise by the incoming state government, under the premiership of Daniel Andrews.
• All starting times are local.

Round 1

	Round 1 (Opening Round)
Thursday, 2 April (7:20 pm)	Carlton 11.12 (78)	def. by	Richmond 15.15 (105)	MCG (crowd: 83,493)
Saturday, 4 April (1:40 pm)	Melbourne 17.13 (115)	def.	Gold Coast 13.11 (89)	MCG (crowd: 27,013)
Saturday, 4 April (4:35 pm)	Sydney 10.12 (72)	def.	Essendon 9.6 (60)	ANZ Stadium (crowd: 23,274)
Saturday, 4 April (6:20 pm)	Brisbane Lions 11.8 (74)	def. by	Collingwood 12.14 (86)	Gabba (crowd: 31,240)
Saturday, 4 April (7:20 pm)	Western Bulldogs 14.13 (97)	def.	West Coast 14.3 (87)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 22,366)
Sunday, 5 April (1:10 pm)	St Kilda 11.12 (78)	def. by	Greater Western Sydney 12.15 (87)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 18,794)
Sunday, 5 April (2:50 pm)	Adelaide 21.14 (140)	def.	North Melbourne 9.9 (63)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 45,607)
Sunday, 5 April (4:40 pm)	Fremantle 11.9 (75)	def.	Port Adelaide 10.8 (68)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 34,099)
Monday, 6 April (3:20 pm)	Hawthorn 17.21 (123)	def.	Geelong 8.13 (61)	MCG (crowd: 73,584)
Melbourne's win against Gold Coast was the first time since 2005 it had won its round 1 game.^[10] Sydney trailed Essendon by 41 points during time on in the third quarter, before Sydney scored the last eight goals of the game to come from behind to record a twelve-point win.^[11] Sydney's three-quarter time deficit of 34 points was the largest it had ever overcome to win in the club's history.^[12]

Round 2

	Round 2
Friday, 10 April (6:10 pm)	West Coast 20.11 (131)	def.	Carlton 9.8 (62)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 34,588)
Saturday, 11 April (1:45 pm)	Richmond 9.12 (66)	def. by	Western Bulldogs 12.13 (85)	MCG (crowd: 49,945)
Saturday, 11 April (2:10 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 15.11 (101)	def.	Melbourne 8.8 (56)	StarTrack Oval (crowd: 8,811)	^[13]
Saturday, 11 April (4:35 pm)	Collingwood 9.9 (63)	def. by	Adelaide 12.18 (90)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 33,771)
Saturday, 11 April (7:20 pm)	Gold Coast 10.16 (76)	def. by	St Kilda 16.8 (104)	Metricon Stadium (crowd: 13,649)
Saturday, 11 April (7:10 pm)	Port Adelaide 6.8 (44)	def. by	Sydney 14.8 (92)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 48,907)
Sunday, 12 April (1:10 pm)	Geelong 9.6 (60)	def. by	Fremantle 15.14 (104)	Simonds Stadium (crowd: 23,723)
Sunday, 12 April (3:20 pm)	Essendon 12.6 (78)	def.	Hawthorn 11.10 (76)	MCG (crowd: 59,866)
Sunday, 12 April (4:40 pm)	North Melbourne 20.13 (133)	def.	Brisbane Lions 7.9 (51)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 22,275)
Josh Kennedy (West Coast) kicked 10 goals against Carlton, becoming the first player to kick 10 goals on three or more occasions in his career since Matthew Lloyd (Essendon), who completed the feat in 2003.^[14]

Round 3

	Round 3
Friday, 17 April (7:50 pm)	Collingwood 21.14 (140)	def.	St Kilda 10.6 (66)	MCG (crowd: 45,197)
Saturday, 18 April (1:45 pm)	Carlton 11.18 (84)	def. by	Essendon 16.9 (105)	MCG (crowd: 54,854)
Saturday, 18 April (1:40 pm)	Adelaide 12.8 (80)	def.	Melbourne 7.13 (55)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 42,834)
Saturday, 18 April (4:35 pm)	Sydney 16.15 (111)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 12.18 (90)	SCG (crowd: 31,966)
Saturday, 18 April (7:20 pm)	North Melbourne 16.9 (105)	def. by	Port Adelaide 17.11 (113)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 22,586)
Saturday, 18 April (7:20 pm)	Brisbane Lions 8.10 (58)	def. by	Richmond 21.11 (137)	Gabba (crowd: 22,441)
Sunday, 19 April (1:10 pm)	Hawthorn 19.13 (127)	def.	Western Bulldogs 8.9 (57)	Aurora Stadium (crowd: 15,559)
Sunday, 19 April (3:20 pm)	Geelong 16.9 (105)	def.	Gold Coast 13.18 (96)	Simonds Stadium (crowd: 20,813)
Sunday, 19 April (2:40 pm)	West Coast 12.9 (81)	def. by	Fremantle 17.9 (111)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 39,138)

Round 4

	Round 4 (ANZAC Round)
Friday, 24 April (7:50 pm)	Richmond 6.15 (51)	def. by	Melbourne 12.11 (83)	MCG (crowd: 58,175)
Saturday, 25 April (1:10 pm)	St Kilda 12.9 (81)	def. by	Carlton 18.13 (121)	Westpac Stadium (crowd: 12,125)
Saturday, 25 April (2:40 pm)	Essendon 6.13 (49)	def. by	Collingwood 9.15 (69)	MCG (crowd: 88,395)
Saturday, 25 April (5:40 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 16.23 (119)	def.	Gold Coast 7.11 (53)	StarTrack Oval (crowd: 6,917)
Saturday, 25 April (7:10 pm)	Port Adelaide 15.9 (99)	def.	Hawthorn 13.13 (91)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 49,831)
Saturday, 25 April (6:45 pm)	Fremantle 11.8 (74)	def.	Sydney 8.12 (60)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 39,009)
Sunday, 26 April (1:10 pm)	Brisbane Lions 9.11 (65)	def. by	West Coast 17.16 (118)	Gabba (crowd: 16,632)
Sunday, 26 April (3:20 pm)	Geelong 9.13 (67)	def. by	North Melbourne 12.11 (83)	Simonds Stadium (crowd: 23,452)
Sunday, 26 April (4:40 pm)	Western Bulldogs 18.17 (125)	def.	Adelaide 10.8 (68)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 19,915)

Round 5

	Round 5
Friday, 1 May (7:50 pm)	Carlton 6.9 (45)	def. by	Collingwood 18.12 (120)	MCG (crowd: 71,759)
Saturday, 2 May (1:45 pm)	Richmond 11.10 (76)	def. by	Geelong 12.13 (85)	MCG (crowd: 45,228)
Saturday, 2 May (2:10 pm)	Sydney 10.13 (73)	def. by	Western Bulldogs 11.11 (77)	SCG (crowd: 25,541)
Saturday, 2 May (4:35 pm)	Gold Coast 18.10 (118)	def.	Brisbane Lions 7.12 (54)	Metricon Stadium (crowd: 12,464)
Saturday, 2 May (7:20 pm)	North Melbourne 10.10 (70)	def. by	Hawthorn 19.16 (130)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 38,077)
Saturday, 2 May (5:40 pm)	West Coast 18.12 (120)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 4.9 (33)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 34,554)
Sunday, 3 May (1:10 pm)	Melbourne 6.14 (50)	def. by	Fremantle 18.10 (118)	MCG (crowd: 22,892)
Sunday, 3 May (3:20 pm)	St Kilda 11.14 (80)	def. by	Essendon 11.16 (82)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 29,869)
Sunday, 3 May (4:10 pm)	Adelaide 13.13 (91)	def. by	Port Adelaide 18.7 (115)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 49,617)
Mick Malthouse (Carlton) coached his 715th senior VFL/AFL game, surpassing Jock McHale's record of 714 games to become the longest-serving coach in VFL/AFL history.^[15]

Round 6

	Round 6
Friday, 8 May (7:50 pm)	Collingwood 8.11 (59)	def. by	Geelong 15.10 (100)	MCG (crowd: 52,152)
Saturday, 9 May (1:45 pm)	North Melbourne 16.13 (109)	def.	Richmond 10.14 (74)	Blundstone Arena (crowd: 17,544)
Saturday, 9 May (2:10 pm)	Western Bulldogs 13.9 (87)	def. by	St Kilda 14.10 (94)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 29,619)
Saturday, 9 May (4:35 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 16.12 (108)	def.	Hawthorn 14.14 (98)	Spotless Stadium (crowd: 13,556)
Saturday, 9 May (5:10 pm)	Gold Coast 11.12 (78)	def. by	Adelaide 18.11 (119)	Metricon Stadium (crowd: 12,464)
Saturday, 9 May (7:20 pm)	Melbourne 7.8 (50)	def. by	Sydney 12.16 (88)	MCG (crowd: 26,894)
Saturday, 9 May (6:10 pm)	Fremantle 12.8 (80)	def.	Essendon 7.10 (52)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 37,535)
Sunday, 10 May (3:20 pm)	Carlton 11.9 (75)	def. by	Brisbane Lions 12.12 (84)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 20,273)
Sunday, 10 May (4:10 pm)	Port Adelaide 10.8 (68)	def. by	West Coast 11.12 (78)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 37,635)
St Kilda defeated Western Bulldogs after trailing by 55 points early in the third quarter. It was the equal-fifth largest successful comeback in VFL/AFL history^[16] and equalled the club's greatest ever comeback.^[17]

Round 7

	Round 7
Friday, 15 May (7:50 pm)	Essendon 12.10 (82)	def. by	North Melbourne 13.15 (93)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 43,972)
Saturday, 16 May (1:15 pm)	Adelaide 18.11 (119)	def.	St Kilda 10.13 (73)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 42,795)
Saturday, 16 May (2:10 pm)	Hawthorn 24.11 (155)	def.	Melbourne 7.8 (50)	MCG (crowd: 41,935)
Saturday, 16 May (4:35 pm)	Carlton 9.3 (57)	def. by	Greater Western Sydney 19.21 (135)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 16,676)
Saturday, 16 May (7:20 pm)	Sydney 18.12 (120)	def.	Geelong 11.11 (77)	ANZ Stadium (crowd: 28,063)
Saturday, 16 May (5:40 pm)	West Coast 21.9 (135)	def.	Gold Coast 6.7 (43)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 26,964)
Sunday, 17 May (1:10 pm)	Western Bulldogs 14.4 (88)	def. by	Fremantle 15.11 (101)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 18,170)
Sunday, 17 May (3:20 pm)	Richmond 16.9 (105)	def.	Collingwood 15.10 (100)	MCG (crowd: 59,034)
Sunday, 17 May (4:40 pm)	Brisbane Lions 15.12 (102)	def.	Port Adelaide 8.17 (65)	Gabba (crowd: 15,957)
West Coast kicked 12.0 (72) in the third quarter against Gold Coast, the highest score in a single quarter in the club's history.^[18]^[19]

Round 8

	Round 8
Friday, 22 May (7:50 pm)	Geelong 22.8 (140)	def.	Carlton 9.9 (63)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 32,032)
Saturday, 23 May (1:45 pm)	St Kilda 12.6 (78)	def. by	West Coast 20.11 (131)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 23,598)
Saturday, 23 May (2:10 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 16.12 (108)	def.	Adelaide 12.12 (84)	Spotless Stadium (crowd: 9,481)
Saturday, 23 May (4:35 pm)	Gold Coast 9.9 (63)	def. by	Collingwood 20.12 (132)	Metricon Stadium (crowd: 16,440)
Saturday, 23 May (7:20 pm)	Hawthorn 9.15 (69)	def. by	Sydney 11.7 (73)	MCG (crowd: 63,319)
Saturday, 23 May (5:40 pm)	Fremantle 17.13 (115)	def.	North Melbourne 5.12 (42)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 35,836)
Sunday, 24 May (1:10 pm)	Essendon 21.10 (136)	def.	Brisbane Lions 12.6 (78)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 36,857)
Sunday, 24 May (3:20 pm)	Melbourne 15.13 (103)	def.	Western Bulldogs 9.10 (64)	MCG (crowd: 29,381)
Sunday, 24 May (4:10 pm)	Port Adelaide 5.13 (43)	def. by	Richmond 11.10 (76)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 44,451)

Round 9

	Round 9 (Indigenous Round)
Friday, 29 May (7:50 pm)	Sydney 19.8 (122)	def.	Carlton 9.8 (62)	SCG (crowd: 32,105)
Saturday, 30 May (1:45 pm)	Hawthorn 14.9 (93)	def.	Gold Coast 6.4 (40)	Aurora Stadium (crowd: 11,320)
Saturday, 30 May (1:40 pm)	Melbourne 8.6 (54)	def. by	Port Adelaide 18.7 (115)	TIO Traeger Park (crowd: 4,866)
Saturday, 30 May (4:35 pm)	Western Bulldogs 16.17 (113)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 11.2 (68)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 16,395)
Saturday, 30 May (7:25 pm)	Richmond 10.12 (72)	def.	Essendon 8.11 (59)	MCG (crowd: 83,804)
Saturday, 30 May (7:10 pm)	Adelaide 7.15 (57)	def. by	Fremantle 10.8 (68)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 45,009)
Sunday, 31 May (1:10 pm)	Brisbane Lions 13.8 (86)	def. by	St Kilda 16.12 (108)	Gabba (crowd: 16,898)
Sunday, 31 May (3:20 pm)	Collingwood 17.10 (112)	def.	North Melbourne 14.11 (95)	MCG (crowd: 43,452)
Sunday, 31 May (2:40 pm)	West Coast 16.24 (120)	def.	Geelong 10.4 (64)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 37,676)
Dustin Fletcher of Essendon became the third player in VFL/AFL history to play 400 games.^[20] Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle) recorded 69 hit-outs against Adelaide, the highest amount since game statistics were documented from 1965;^[21] this broke the previous record of 63 set in 1982 by Gary Dempsey.^[22] The new record stood for only two weeks, before Sandilands bettered the tally in round 11.^[23] Fremantle recorded its best ever start to the season, winning its first nine matches; its previous best unbeaten start to a season was three matches in 2010.^[24]

Round 10

	Round 10
Friday, 5 June (6:10 pm)	Fremantle 10.10 (70)	def. by	Richmond 15.7 (97)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 38,019)
Saturday, 6 June (1:40 pm)	Carlton 14.6 (90)	def. by	Adelaide 14.15 (99)	MCG (crowd: 32,035)
Saturday, 6 June (4:35 pm)	Gold Coast 5.11 (41)	def. by	Sydney 13.15 (93)	Metricon Stadium (crowd: 13,068)
Saturday, 6 June (7:20 pm)	Essendon 7.11 (53)	def. by	Geelong 19.8 (122)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 40,632)
Saturday, 6 June (7:10 pm)	Port Adelaide 16.4 (100)	def.	Western Bulldogs 9.8 (62)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 40,907)
Sunday, 7 June (1:10 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 14.13 (97)	def.	Brisbane Lions 10.7 (67)	Spotless Stadium (crowd: 9,079)
Sunday, 7 June (3:20 pm)	North Melbourne 13.7 (85)	def.	West Coast 10.15 (75)	Blundstone Arena (crowd: 12,011)
Sunday, 7 June (4:40 pm)	St Kilda 10.9 (69)	def. by	Hawthorn 20.12 (132)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 33,886)
Monday, 8 June (3:20 pm)	Melbourne 13.7 (85)	def. by	Collingwood 17.8 (110)	MCG (crowd: 66,120)

Round 11

	Round 11
Friday, 12 June (7:20 pm)	Port Adelaide 11.3 (69)	def. by	Geelong 14.8 (92)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 46,140)
Saturday, 13 June (1:40 pm)	Gold Coast 7.4 (46)	def. by	Fremantle 6.17 (53)	Metricon Stadium (crowd: 8,911)
Saturday, 13 June (2:35 pm)	West Coast 14.12 (96)	def.	Essendon 6.10 (46)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 37,306)
Saturday, 13 June (7:20 pm)	North Melbourne 10.15 (75)	def. by	Sydney 14.7 (91)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 32,127)
Sunday, 14 June (1:10 pm)	Collingwood 18.11 (119)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 11.11 (77)	MCG (crowd: 43,390)
Sunday, 14 June (4:40 pm)	St Kilda 12.13 (85)	def.	Melbourne 12.11 (83)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 25,187)
	Bye Adelaide, Brisbane Lions, Carlton, Hawthorn, Richmond, Western Bulldogs
Aaron Sandilands of Fremantle recorded 70 hit-outs against Gold Coast, the highest amount since game statistics were documented from 1965;^[21] this broke the previous record of 69 which Sandilands had set only two weeks earlier.^[23] However, this was later broken when Todd Goldstein recorded 80 hitouts in round 12.^[25]

Round 12

	Round 12
Thursday, 18 June (7:20 pm)	Adelaide 12.13 (85)	def. by	Hawthorn 17.12 (114)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 49,108)
Friday, 19 June (7:50 pm)	Richmond 10.10 (70)	def. by	West Coast 13.12 (90)	MCG (crowd: 45,178)
Saturday, 20 June (1:40 pm)	Carlton 17.8 (110)	def.	Port Adelaide 16.10 (106)	MCG (crowd: 27,693)
Saturday, 20 June (4:35 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 8.13 (61)	def. by	North Melbourne 18.9 (117)	Spotless Stadium (crowd: 7,824)
Saturday, 20 June (7:20 pm)	Western Bulldogs 22.14 (146)	def.	Brisbane Lions 11.8 (74)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 21,129)
Sunday, 21 June (3:20 pm)	Geelong 13.11 (89)	def. by	Melbourne 18.5 (113)	Simonds Stadium (crowd: 28,007)
	Bye Collingwood, Essendon, Fremantle, Gold Coast, St Kilda, Sydney
Todd Goldstein of North Melbourne recorded 80 hit-outs against Greater Western Sydney, the highest amount since game statistics were documented from 1965;^[21] this broke the previous record of 70, which Aaron Sandilands had set only one week earlier.^[23]^[25] Melbourne ended a ten-game losing streak against Geelong.^[26]

Round 13

	Round 13
Thursday, 25 June (6:10 pm)	Fremantle 12.8 (80)	def.	Collingwood 11.7 (73)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 37,145)
Friday, 26 June (7:50 pm)	Sydney 11.11 (77)	def. by	Richmond 14.11 (95)	SCG (crowd: 37,579)
Saturday, 27 June (1:40 pm)	Hawthorn 16.18 (114)	def.	Essendon 11.10 (76)	MCG (crowd: 62,500)
Saturday, 27 June (4:35 pm)	Brisbane Lions 10.9 (69)	def. by	Adelaide 11.16 (82)	Gabba (crowd: 18,146)
Saturday, 27 June (7:20 pm)	St Kilda 7.14 (56)	def. by	Western Bulldogs 9.8 (62)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 26,511)
Sunday, 28 June (3:20 pm)	Carlton 14.19 (103)	def.	Gold Coast 9.15 (69)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 30,207)
	Bye Geelong, Greater Western Sydney, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, West Coast

Round 14

	Round 14
Thursday, 2 July (7:20 pm)	Sydney 14.10 (94)	def.	Port Adelaide 12.12 (84)	SCG (crowd: 28,316)
Friday, 3 July (7:50 pm)	Collingwood 12.19 (91)	def. by	Hawthorn 15.11 (101)	MCG (crowd: 75,880)
Saturday, 4 July (1:40 pm)	Richmond 10.18 (78)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 10.9 (69)	MCG (crowd: 35,968)
Saturday, 4 July (4:40 pm)	Gold Coast 19.11 (125)	def.	North Melbourne 10.10 (70)	Metricon Stadium (crowd: 14,444)
Saturday, 4 July (7:30 pm)	Western Bulldogs 9.10 (64)	def.	Carlton 7.11 (53)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 31,445)
Saturday, 4 July (7:10 pm)	Melbourne 9.6 (60)	def. by	West Coast 16.18 (114)	TIO Stadium (crowd: 11,873)
Sunday, 5 July (1:10 pm)	Essendon 8.4 (52)	def. by	St Kilda 25.12 (162)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 38,020)
Sunday, 5 July (2:40 pm)	Fremantle 13.6 (84)	def.	Brisbane Lions 7.6 (48)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 32,970)
Sunday, 5 July (cancelled)	Adelaide	v	Geelong	Adelaide Oval
The match between Adelaide and Geelong was cancelled following the death of Adelaide coach Phil Walsh on 3 July, with each team receiving two premiership points. It was the first premiership match to be cancelled outright, rather than rescheduled or postponed, in VFL/AFL history.^[1]^[27] Starting times of some other matches were adjusted slightly to accommodate tributes to Walsh.^[28] St Kilda recorded its highest ever score (162 points) and winning margin (110 points) against Essendon.^[29]

Round 15

	Round 15
Thursday, 9 July (7:20 pm)	Port Adelaide 9.12 (66)	def.	Collingwood 9.9 (63)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 44,496)
Friday, 10 July (7:50 pm)	Richmond 10.11 (71)	def.	Carlton 5.11 (41)	MCG (crowd: 52,564)
Saturday, 11 July (1:40 pm)	Essendon 10.9 (69)	def.	Melbourne 7.18 (60)	MCG (crowd: 38,861)
Saturday, 11 July (4:35 pm)	Western Bulldogs 14.11 (95)	def.	Gold Coast 11.7 (73)	Cazaly's Stadium (crowd: 9,449)
Saturday, 11 July (7:20 pm)	North Melbourne 18.12 (120)	def.	Geelong 11.13 (79)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 31,270)
Saturday, 11 July (5:40 pm)	West Coast 22.15 (147)	def.	Adelaide 14.7 (91)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 38,133)
Sunday, 12 July (1:10 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 12.12 (84)	def.	St Kilda 6.13 (49)	Spotless Stadium (crowd: 9,178)
Sunday, 12 July (3:20 pm)	Hawthorn 17.13 (115)	def.	Fremantle 6.7 (43)	Aurora Stadium (crowd: 16,792)
Sunday, 12 July (4:40 pm)	Brisbane Lions 7.7 (49)	def. by	Sydney 10.10 (70)	Gabba (crowd: 16,936)

Round 16

	Round 16
Friday, 17 July (7:50 pm)	North Melbourne 14.9 (93)	def.	Essendon 9.14 (68)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 31,025)
Saturday, 18 July (1:45 pm)	Geelong 10.12 (72)	def.	Western Bulldogs 9.10 (64)	Simonds Stadium (crowd: 25,041)
Saturday, 18 July (2:10 pm)	Gold Coast 12.7 (79)	def. by	Greater Western Sydney 13.16 (94)	Metricon Stadium (crowd: 9,589)
Saturday, 18 July (4:35 pm)	Collingwood 7.14 (56)	def. by	West Coast 11.21 (87)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 36,527)
Saturday, 18 July (7:20 pm)	Sydney 7.15 (57)	def. by	Hawthorn 23.8 (146)	ANZ Stadium (crowd: 37,369)
Saturday, 18 July (5:40 pm)	Fremantle 13.17 (95)	def.	Carlton 8.5 (53)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 33,581)
Sunday, 19 July (1:10 pm)	Melbourne 8.12 (60)	def.	Brisbane Lions 4.12 (36)	MCG (crowd: 25,149)
Sunday, 19 July (2:50 pm)	Port Adelaide 17.11 (113)	def. by	Adelaide 18.8 (116)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 53,518)
Sunday, 19 July (4:40 pm)	St Kilda 10.13 (73)	def. by	Richmond 13.11 (89)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 45,772)
The Sydney Swans' 89-point loss to Hawthorn was their heaviest defeat in a premiership match since round 10, 1998.^[30]

Round 17

	Round 17
Friday, 24 July (7:50 pm)	Carlton 4.11 (35)	def. by	Hawthorn 27.11 (173)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 26,815)
Saturday, 25 July (1:45 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 6.6 (42)	def. by	Geelong 9.15 (69)	StarTrack Oval (crowd: 14,667)
Saturday, 25 July (1:40 pm)	Adelaide 19.11 (125)	def.	Gold Coast 12.8 (80)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 41,715)
Saturday, 25 July (4:35 pm)	Richmond 10.18 (78)	def. by	Fremantle 12.10 (82)	MCG (crowd: 39,777)
Saturday, 25 July (7:20 pm)	Essendon 17.14 (116)	def. by	Port Adelaide 20.9 (129)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 23,705)
Saturday, 25 July (7:20 pm)	Brisbane Lions 5.8 (38)	def. by	North Melbourne 16.14 (110)	Gabba (crowd: 15,563)
Sunday, 26 July (1:10 pm)	Western Bulldogs 15.14 (104)	def.	Collingwood 13.8 (86)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 40,581)
Sunday, 26 July (3:20 pm)	Melbourne 6.10 (46)	def. by	St Kilda 12.11 (83)	MCG (crowd: 22,945)
Sunday, 26 July (2:40 pm)	West Coast 15.13 (103)	def.	Sydney 7.9 (51)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 38,760)
Carlton's 138-point loss against Hawthorn set a new record as the club's heaviest ever defeat in a premiership match,^[31] in addition, their score of 4.11 (35) was their lowest score against Hawthorn in history.^[32] Brent Harvey of North Melbourne became the fourth player in VFL/AFL history to play 400 games.^[33]

Round 18

	Round 18
Friday, 31 July (7:50 pm)	Hawthorn 7.11 (53)	def. by	Richmond 10.11 (71)	MCG (crowd: 66,305)
Saturday, 1 August (1:45 pm)	Geelong 17.11 (113)	def.	Brisbane Lions 8.9 (57)	Simonds Stadium (crowd: 21,914)
Saturday, 1 August (2:10 pm)	Collingwood 7.12 (54)	def. by	Melbourne 13.13 (91)	MCG (crowd: 37,894)
Saturday, 1 August (4:35 pm)	Sydney 17.15 (117)	def.	Adelaide 9.11 (65)	SCG (crowd: 38,690)
Saturday, 1 August (7:20 pm)	Carlton 8.6 (54)	def. by	North Melbourne 18.10 (118)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 25,251)
Saturday, 1 August (7:20 pm)	Gold Coast 12.11 (83)	drew with	West Coast 11.17 (83)	Metricon Stadium (crowd: 9,341)
Sunday, 2 August (12:40 pm)	Port Adelaide 17.10 (112)	def.	St Kilda 6.13 (49)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 35,977)
Sunday, 2 August (3:20 pm)	Essendon 5.10 (40)	def. by	Western Bulldogs 19.13 (127)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 33,466)
Sunday, 2 August (2:40 pm)	Fremantle 12.12 (84)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 9.9 (63)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 34,626)
Melbourne defeated Collingwood for the first time since round 11, 2007, ending an eleven-game winless streak.^[34]

Round 19

	Round 19 (Multicultural Round)
Friday, 7 August (7:20 pm)	Adelaide 11.22 (88)	def.	Richmond 8.4 (52)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 49,116)
Saturday, 8 August (1:45 pm)	Collingwood 16.9 (105)	def.	Carlton 13.9 (87)	MCG (crowd: 48,133)
Saturday, 8 August (2:10 pm)	Western Bulldogs 19.14 (128)	def.	Port Adelaide 9.10 (64)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 20,590)
Saturday, 8 August (4:35 pm)	Brisbane Lions 14.16 (100)	def. by	Gold Coast 17.12 (114)	Gabba (crowd: 20,025)
Saturday, 8 August (7:20 pm)	Geelong 14.11 (95)	def.	Sydney 9.9 (63)	Simonds Stadium (crowd: 27,901)
Saturday, 8 August (5:40 pm)	West Coast 11.8 (74)	def. by	Hawthorn 13.10 (88)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 34,843)
Sunday, 9 August (1:10 pm)	Melbourne 14.8 (92)	def. by	North Melbourne 19.13 (127)	MCG (crowd: 30,695)
Sunday, 9 August (3:20 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 14.9 (93)	def.	Essendon 8.13 (61)	Spotless Stadium (crowd: 10,093)
Sunday, 9 August (4:40 pm)	St Kilda 8.11 (59)	def. by	Fremantle 15.6 (96)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 16,419)
The Brisbane Lions–Gold Coast match featured a one-off trial of officiating a match with four field umpires instead of three. The four umpire system had previously been trialled in the pre-season, but this was the first premiership match to be officiated by four umpires.^[35]

Round 20

	Round 20
Friday, 14 August (7:50 pm)	Sydney 13.9 (87)	def.	Collingwood 10.16 (76)	SCG (crowd: 38,408)
Saturday, 15 August (1:45 pm)	Essendon 8.11 (59)	def. by	Adelaide 27.9 (171)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 25,914)
Saturday, 15 August (2:10 pm)	North Melbourne 18.12 (120)	def.	St Kilda 11.17 (83)	Blundstone Arena (crowd: 14,346)
Saturday, 15 August (4:05 pm)	Port Adelaide 16.15 (111)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 13.12 (90)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 32,436)
Saturday, 15 August (7:20 pm)	Geelong 12.13 (85)	def. by	Hawthorn 19.7 (121)	MCG (crowd: 55,802)
Saturday, 15 August (7:20 pm)	Brisbane Lions 20.11 (131)	def.	Carlton 9.13 (67)	Gabba (crowd: 17,744)
Sunday, 16 August (1:10 pm)	Richmond 22.6 (138)	def.	Gold Coast 8.7 (55)	MCG (crowd: 38,508)
Sunday, 16 August (3:20 pm)	Western Bulldogs 24.9 (153)	def.	Melbourne 8.7 (55)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 27,805)
Sunday, 16 August (2:40 pm)	Fremantle 11.14 (80)	def. by	West Coast 15.14 (104)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 41,959)

Round 21

	Round 21
Friday, 21 August (7:50 pm)	Hawthorn 13.8 (86)	def. by	Port Adelaide 16.12 (108)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 28,657)
Saturday, 22 August (1:45 pm)	Collingwood 7.14 (56)	def. by	Richmond 23.9 (147)	MCG (crowd: 63,178)
Saturday, 22 August (2:10 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 6.8 (44)	def. by	Sydney 20.13 (133)	Spotless Stadium (crowd: 19,507)
Saturday, 22 August (4:35 pm)	Gold Coast 14.13 (97)	def.	Essendon 14.11 (95)	Metricon Stadium (crowd: 16,253)
Saturday, 22 August (7:20 pm)	St Kilda 14.13 (97)	drew with	Geelong 15.7 (97)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 25,245)
Saturday, 22 August (7:10 pm)	Adelaide 20.11 (131)	def.	Brisbane Lions 6.8 (44)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 46,609)
Sunday, 23 August (1:10 pm)	North Melbourne 14.10 (94)	def.	Fremantle 12.11 (83)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 23,857)
Sunday, 23 August (3:20 pm)	Carlton 12.6 (78)	def.	Melbourne 7.13 (55)	MCG (crowd: 33,962)
Sunday, 23 August (2:40 pm)	West Coast 25.12 (162)	def.	Western Bulldogs 13.7 (85)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 37,733)
Jason Holmes (St Kilda) became the first American born and raised to play an AFL game.^[36]

Round 22

	Round 22
Friday, 28 August (7:50 pm)	Geelong 9.8 (62)	def. by	Collingwood 17.8 (110)	MCG (crowd: 40,582)
Saturday, 29 August (1:45 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 20.12 (132)	def.	Carlton 7.9 (51)	Spotless Stadium (crowd: 9,538)
Saturday, 29 August (2:10 pm)	Hawthorn 21.8 (134)	def.	Brisbane Lions 9.8 (62)	Aurora Stadium (crowd: 11,731)
Saturday, 29 August (4:35 pm)	North Melbourne 10.13 (73)	def. by	Western Bulldogs 14.12 (96)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 37,299)
Saturday, 29 August (7:20 pm)	Essendon 7.5 (47)	def. by	Richmond 10.14 (74)	MCG (crowd: 37,864)
Saturday, 29 August (7:20 pm)	Gold Coast 7.9 (51)	def. by	Port Adelaide 12.16 (88)	Metricon Stadium (crowd: 9,343)
Sunday, 30 August (1:10 pm)	Adelaide 19.12 (126)	def.	West Coast 10.9 (69)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 52,460)
Sunday, 30 August (3:20 pm)	St Kilda 4.14 (38)	def. by	Sydney 20.15 (135)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 27,856)
Sunday, 30 August (2:40 pm)	Fremantle 17.6 (108)	def.	Melbourne 8.6 (54)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 33,529)

Round 23

	Round 23
Friday, 4 September (7:50 pm)	Richmond 16.12 (108)	def.	North Melbourne 10.7 (67)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 40,461)
Saturday, 5 September (1:05 pm)	Geelong 17.17 (119)	def.	Adelaide 11.14 (80)	Simonds Stadium (crowd: 26,128)
Saturday, 5 September (1:45 pm)	Brisbane Lions 19.16 (130)	def.	Western Bulldogs 19.8 (122)	Gabba (crowd: 15,434)
Saturday, 5 September (3:20 pm)	Port Adelaide 18.14 (122)	def.	Fremantle 8.5 (53)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 37,922)
Saturday, 5 September (4:40 pm)	Hawthorn 17.11 (113)	def.	Carlton 8.8 (56)	MCG (crowd: 33,182)
Saturday, 5 September (7:25 pm)	Sydney 19.13 (127)	def.	Gold Coast 9.10 (64)	SCG (crowd: 25,424)
Saturday, 5 September (5:40 pm)	West Coast 18.17 (125)	def.	St Kilda 4.6 (30)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 36,165)
Sunday, 6 September (1:10 pm)	Melbourne 15.13 (103)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 11.11 (77)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 8,974)
Sunday, 6 September (3:20 pm)	Collingwood 14.8 (92)	def. by	Essendon 14.11 (95)	MCG (crowd: 40,270)
Fremantle and North Melbourne both received permission from the AFL under its competitive integrity rules to omit several key senior players in this round to manage their fatigue for the finals: Fremantle's finishing position could not change based on the outcome of its game, and although North Melbourne's position could change, the league ruled that North Melbourne was not attempting to manipulate its finals draw. Fremantle made twelve team changes, equalling the all-time record associated with the St Kilda players' strike of 1911, then broke the record outright with thirteen changes bringing its players back for the qualifying finals; this record stood until 2022.^[37] North Melbourne made nine changes.^[38] Melbourne ended a 22-game losing streak at Docklands Stadium dating back to round 19, 2007.^[39] The crowd of 8,974 for the match between Melbourne and Greater Western Sydney is the lowest ever for an attended AFL premiership match at Docklands Stadium.^[40] The crowd of 40,270 for Collingwood vs. Essendon was the lowest between the two clubs since it had become standard to move matches between the clubs away from their smaller suburban grounds and to the Melbourne Cricket Ground or Waverley Park in 1988.^[41]

Season notes

• Fremantle secured the minor premiership for the first time in its history.^[42]
• Fremantle and West Coast finished first and second on the ladder respectively, the first time two teams from the same state outside of Victoria had finished in the top two positions.^[43]
• Geelong missed the finals for the first time since 2006.^[44]
• Fremantle was the first minor premier to fail to reach the Grand Final since Adelaide in 2005.^[45]
• North Melbourne became the first team in history to finish the home-and-away season in eighth position and qualify for a preliminary final.^[46]
• Hawthorn's score of 27.11 (173) against Carlton in round 17 was the highest score posted by any side, while St Kilda's score of 4.6 (30) against West Coast in round 23 was the lowest.
• Matt Priddis (West Coast) set a new record for most handpasses in a season. Priddis reached a total of 472 handpasses, surpassing the previous record of 445 set by Gary Ablett, Jr. in 2009.^[47]
• Todd Goldstein (North Melbourne) set a new record for most hit-outs in a season. Goldstein's final tally of 1,058 surpassed the previous record of 952 set by Gary Dempsey (North Melbourne) in 1982. Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle), who had 998 hit-outs for the season, also passed Dempsey's old record.^[47]

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
Adelaide	NM +77	Coll +27	Melb +25	WB -57	PA -24	GCS +41	StK +46	GWS -24	Frem -11	Carl +9	X	Haw -29	BL +13	Geel C	WCE -56	PA +3	GCS +45	Syd -52	Rich +36	Ess +112	BL +87	WCE +57	Geel -39	WB +7	Haw -74	X	X	7
Brisbane Lions	Coll -12	NM -82	Rich -79	WCE -53	GCS -64	Carl +9	PA +37	Ess -58	StK -22	GWS -30	X	WB -72	Adel -13	Frem -36	Syd -21	Melb -24	NM -72	Geel -56	GCS -14	Carl +64	Adel -87	Haw -72	WB +8	X	X	X	X	17
Carlton	Rich -27	WCE -69	Ess -21	StK +40	Coll -75	BL -9	GWS -78	Geel -77	Syd -60	Adel -9	X	PA +4	GCS +34	WB -11	Rich -30	Frem -42	Haw -138	NM -64	Coll -18	BL -64	Melb +23	GWS -81	Haw -57	X	X	X	X	18
Collingwood	BL +12	Adel -27	StK +74	Ess +20	Carl +75	Geel -41	Rich -5	GCS +69	NM +17	Melb +25	GWS +42	X	Frem -7	Haw -10	PA -3	WCE -31	WB -18	Melb -37	Carl +18	Syd -11	Rich -91	Geel +48	Ess -3	X	X	X	X	12
Essendon	Syd -12	Haw +2	Carl +21	Coll -20	StK +2	Frem -28	NM -11	BL +58	Rich -13	Geel -69	WCE -50	X	Haw -38	StK -110	Melb +9	NM -25	PA -13	WB -87	GWS -32	Adel -112	GCS -2	Rich -27	Coll +3	X	X	X	X	15
Fremantle	PA +7	Geel +44	WCE +30	Syd +14	Melb +68	Ess +28	WB +13	NM +73	Adel +11	Rich -27	GCS +7	X	Coll +7	BL +36	Haw -72	Carl +42	Rich +4	GWS +21	StK +37	WCE -24	NM -11	Melb +54	PA -69	Syd +9	X	Haw -27	X	1
Geelong	Haw 62	Frem -44	GCS +9	NM -16	Rich +9	Coll +41	Syd -43	Carl +77	WCE -56	Ess +69	PA +23	Melb -24	X	Adel C	NM -41	WB +8	GWS +27	BL +56	Syd +32	Haw -36	StK 0	Coll -48	Adel +39	X	X	X	X	10
Gold Coast	Melb -26	StK -28	Geel -9	GWS -66	BL +64	Adel -41	WCE -92	Coll -69	Haw -53	Syd -52	Frem -7	X	Carl -34	NM +55	WB -22	GWS -15	Adel -45	WCE 0	BL +14	Rich -83	Ess +2	PA -37	Syd -63	X	X	X	X	16
Greater Western Sydney	StK +9	Melb +45	Syd -21	GCS +66	WCE -87	Haw +10	Carl +78	Adel +24	WB -45	BL +30	Coll -42	NM -56	X	Rich -9	StK +35	GCS +15	Geel -27	Frem -21	Ess +32	PA -21	Syd -89	Carl +81	Melb -26	X	X	X	X	11
Hawthorn	Geel +62	Ess -2	WB +70	PA -8	NM +60	GWS -10	Melb +105	Syd -4	GCS +53	StK +63	X	Adel +29	Ess +38	Coll +10	Frem +72	Syd +89	Carl +138	Rich -18	WCE +14	Geel +36	PA -22	BL +72	Carl +57	WCE -32	Adel +74	Frem +27	WCE +46	3
Melbourne	GCS +26	GWS -45	Adel -25	Rich +32	Frem -68	Syd -38	Haw -105	WB +39	PA -61	Coll -25	StK -2	Geel +24	X	WCE -54	Ess -9	BL +24	StK -37	Coll +37	NM -35	WB -98	Carl -23	Frem -54	GWS +26	X	X	X	X	13
North Melbourne	Adel -77	BL +82	PA -8	Geel +16	Haw -60	Rich +35	Ess +11	Frem -73	Coll -17	WCE +10	Syd -16	GWS +56	X	GCS -55	Geel +41	Ess +25	BL +72	Carl +64	Melb +35	StK +37	Frem +11	WB -23	Rich -41	Rich +17	Syd +26	WCE -25	X	8
Port Adelaide	Frem -7	Syd -48	NM +8	Haw +8	Adel +24	WCE -10	BL -37	Rich -33	Melb +61	WB +38	Geel -23	Carl -4	X	Syd -10	Coll +3	Adel -3	Ess +13	StK +63	WB -64	GWS +21	Haw +22	GCS +37	Frem +69	X	X	X	X	9
Richmond	Carl +27	WB -19	BL +79	Melb -32	Geel -9	NM -35	Coll +5	PA +33	Ess +13	Frem +27	X	WCE -20	Syd +18	GWS +9	Carl +30	StK +16	Frem -4	Haw +18	Adel -36	GCS +83	Coll +91	Ess +27	NM +41	NM -17	X	X	X	5
St Kilda	GWS -9	GCS +28	Coll -74	Carl -40	Ess -2	WB +7	Adel -46	WCE -53	BL +22	Haw -63	Melb +2	X	WB -6	Ess +110	GWS -35	Rich -16	Melb +37	PA -63	Frem -37	NM -37	Geel 0	Syd -97	WCE -95	X	X	X	X	14
Sydney	Ess +12	PA +48	GWS +21	Frem -14	WB -4	Melb +38	Geel +43	Haw +4	Carl +60	GCS +52	NM +16	X	Rich -18	PA +10	BL +21	Haw -89	WCE -52	Adel +52	Geel -32	Coll +11	GWS +89	StK +97	GCS +63	Frem -9	NM -26	X	X	4
West Coast	WB -10	Carl +69	Frem -30	BL +53	GWS +87	PA +10	GCS +92	StK +53	Geel +56	NM -10	Ess +50	Rich +20	X	Melb +54	Adel +56	Coll +31	Syd +52	GCS 0	Haw -14	Frem +24	WB +77	Adel -57	StK +95	Haw +32	X	NM +25	Haw -46	2
Western Bulldogs	WCE +10	Rich +19	Haw -70	Adel +57	Syd +4	StK -7	Frem -13	Melb -39	GWS +45	PA -38	X	BL +72	StK +6	Carl +11	GCS +22	Geel -8	Coll +18	Ess +87	PA +64	Melb +98	WCE -77	NM +23	BL -8	Adel -7	X	X	X	6
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

+	Win		Qualified for finals
-	Loss	X	Bye
	Draw		Eliminated

Bold – Home game
X – Bye
C – Cancelled^[a]
Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

2015 AFL ladder

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PP	Pts
1	Fremantle	22	17	5	0	1857	1564	118.7	68	Finals series
2	West Coast	22	16	5	1	2330	1572	148.2	66
3	Hawthorn (P)	22	16	6	0	2452	1548	158.4	64
4	Sydney	22	16	6	0	2006	1578	127.1	64
5	Richmond	22	15	7	0	1930	1568	123.1	60
6	Western Bulldogs	22	14	8	0	2101	1825	115.1	56
7	Adelaide	21	13	8	0	2107	1821	115.7	54^[b]
8	North Melbourne	22	13	9	0	2062	1937	106.5	52
9	Port Adelaide	22	12	10	0	2002	1874	106.8	48
10	Geelong	21	11	9	1	1853	1833	101.1	48^[b]
11	Greater Western Sydney	22	11	11	0	1872	1891	99.0	44
12	Collingwood	22	10	12	0	1972	1856	106.3	40
13	Melbourne	22	7	15	0	1573	2044	77.0	28
14	St Kilda	22	6	15	1	1695	2162	78.4	26
15	Essendon	22	6	16	0	1580	2134	74.0	24
16	Gold Coast	22	4	17	1	1633	2240	72.9	18
17	Brisbane Lions	22	4	18	0	1557	2306	67.5	16
18	Carlton	22	4	18	0	1525	2354	64.8	16

Source: ^[48]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers
Notes:

1. The round 14 Adelaide vs. Geelong match was cancelled due to the death of Adelaide coach, Phil Walsh, both clubs received two premiership points each, with no change to their percentages.
2. The round 14 match between Adelaide and Geelong was cancelled due to the death of Adelaide coach Phil Walsh, and both teams were awarded two premiership points each.

Ladder progression

  Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.

  Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first 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 indicate that the team had a bye during that round.

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
Fremantle	4	8	12	16	20	24	28	32	36	36	40	40	44	48	48	52	56	60	64	64	64	68	68
West Coast	0	4	4	8	12	16	20	24	28	28	32	36	36	40	44	48	52	54	54	58	62	62	66
Hawthorn	4	4	8	8	12	12	16	16	20	24	24	28	32	36	40	44	48	48	52	56	56	60	64
Sydney	4	8	12	12	12	16	20	24	28	32	36	36	36	40	44	44	44	48	48	52	56	60	64
Richmond	4	4	8	8	8	8	12	16	20	24	24	24	28	32	36	40	40	44	44	48	52	56	60
Western Bulldogs	4	8	8	12	16	16	16	16	20	20	20	24	28	32	36	36	40	44	48	52	52	56	56
Adelaide	4	8	12	12	12	16	20	20	20	24	24	24	28	30	30	34	38	38	42	46	50	54	54
North Melbourne	0	4	4	8	8	12	16	16	16	20	20	24	24	24	28	32	36	40	44	48	52	52	52
Port Adelaide	0	0	4	8	12	12	12	12	16	20	20	20	20	20	24	24	28	32	32	36	40	44	48
Geelong	0	0	4	4	8	12	12	16	16	20	24	24	24	26	26	30	34	38	42	42	44	44	48
Greater Western Sydney	4	8	8	12	12	16	20	24	24	28	28	28	28	28	32	36	36	36	40	40	40	44	44
Collingwood	4	4	8	12	16	16	16	20	24	28	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	36	36	36	40	40
Melbourne	4	4	4	8	8	8	8	12	12	12	12	16	16	16	16	20	20	24	24	24	24	24	28
St Kilda	0	4	4	4	4	8	8	8	12	12	16	16	16	20	20	20	24	24	24	24	26	26	26
Essendon	0	4	8	8	12	12	12	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	24
Gold Coast	0	0	0	0	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	8	8	8	8	10	14	14	18	18	18
Brisbane Lions	0	0	0	0	0	4	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	12	12	12	16
Carlton	0	0	0	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	8	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	16	16	16

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Finals series

Main article: 2015 AFL finals series

	Qualifying and elimination finals					Semi-finals						Preliminary finals					Grand Final
	12 Sep, Domain Stadium
	1	Fremantle	10.9 (69)
	4	Sydney	7.18 (60)			19 Sep, ANZ Stadium
						Sydney		7.9 (51)
	13 Sep, MCG					North Melbourne		11.11 (77)				25 Sep, Domain Stadium
	5	Richmond	14.4 (88)									Fremantle		10.7 (67)
	8	North Melbourne	15.15 (105)									Hawthorn		15.4 (94)			3 Oct, MCG
																	Hawthorn		16.11 (107)
	12 Sep, MCG											26 Sep, Domain Stadium					West Coast		8.13 (61)
	6	Western Bulldogs	14.18 (102)									West Coast		10.20 (80)
	7	Adelaide	16.13 (109)			18 Sep, MCG						North Melbourne		7.13 (55)
						Hawthorn		21.9 (135)
	11 Sep, Domain Stadium					Adelaide		8.13 (61)
	2	West Coast	14.12 (96)
	3	Hawthorn	9.10 (64)

Week one

	Qualifying Finals
QF2: Friday, 11 September (6:20 pm)	West Coast 14.12 (96)	def.	Hawthorn 9.10 (64)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 42,663)
QF1: Saturday, 12 September (1:20 pm)	Fremantle 10.9 (69)	def.	Sydney 7.18 (60)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 40,071)

	Elimination Finals
EF2: Saturday, 12 September (7:20 pm)	Western Bulldogs 14.18 (102)	def. by	Adelaide 16.13 (109)	MCG (crowd: 60,782)
EF1: Sunday, 13 September (3:20 pm)	Richmond 14.4 (88)	def. by	North Melbourne 15.15 (105)	MCG (crowd: 90,186)

Week two

	Semi-finals
SF2: Friday, 18 September (7:50 pm)	Hawthorn 21.9 (135)	def.	Adelaide 8.13 (61)	MCG (crowd: 70,879)
SF1: Saturday, 19 September (7:20 pm)	Sydney 7.9 (51)	def. by	North Melbourne 11.11 (77)	ANZ Stadium (crowd: 31,162)
Adelaide's 74-point loss to Hawthorn was its heaviest defeat in a final.^[49]

Week three

	Preliminary Finals
PF1: Friday, 25 September (6:20 pm)	Fremantle 10.7 (67)	def. by	Hawthorn 15.4 (94)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 41,508)
PF2: Saturday, 26 September (5:45 pm)	West Coast 10.20 (80)	def.	North Melbourne 7.13 (55)	Domain Stadium (crowd: 43,080)

Week four

Main article: 2015 AFL Grand Final

	Grand Final
GF: Saturday, 3 October (2:30 pm)	Hawthorn 16.11 (107)	def.	West Coast 8.13 (61)	MCG (crowd: 98,633)
Hawthorn became the first team to win three consecutive premierships since the Brisbane Lions in 2001, 2002 and 2003.^[50]

Attendances

By club

2015 AFL attendances^[51]

Club	Total	Games	Avg. Per Game	Home Total	Home Games	Home Avg.
Adelaide	904726	23	39336	464868	10	46487
Brisbane Lions	467466	22	21248	207016	11	18820
Carlton	760055	22	34548	423018	11	38456
Collingwood	1054044	22	47911	519844	11	47259
Essendon	894335	22	40652	467552	11	42505
Fremantle	772497	24	32187	398308	11	36210
Geelong	720052	21	34288	325395	11	29581
Gold Coast	394321	22	17924	135966	11	12361
Greater Western Sydney	402019	22	18274	118651	11	10786
Hawthorn	1153600	26	44369	424884	11	38626
Melbourne	653802	22	29718	276802	11	25164
North Melbourne	773402	25	30936	282417	11	25674
Port Adelaide	737269	22	33512	471840	11	42895
Richmond	1144590	23	49764	548642	11	49877
St Kilda	590051	22	26821	285262	11	25933
Sydney	772252	24	32177	346735	11	31521
West Coast	889816	25	35593	395860	11	35987
Western Bulldogs	655063	23	28481	257464	11	23406

By ground

2015 ground attendances^[51]

Ground	Total	Games	Avg. Per Game
Adelaide Oval	936890	21	44614
ANZ Stadium	119868	4	29967
Aurora Stadium	55402	4	13851
Blundstone Arena	43901	3	14634
Cazaly's Stadium	9449	1	9449
Domain Stadium	961490	26	36980
Etihad Stadium	1301878	46	28302
Gabba	207016	11	18820
MCG	2495287	50	49906
Metricon Stadium	135966	11	12361
SCG	258029	8	32254
Simonds Stadium	196979	8	24622
Spotless Stadium	88256	8	11032
StarTrack Oval	30395	3	10132
TIO Stadium	11873	1	11873
TIO Traeger Park	4866	1	4866
Westpac Stadium	12125	1	12125

Awards

• The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Nat Fyfe of Fremantle, who received 31 votes.^[52]
• The Coleman Medal was awarded to Josh Kennedy of West Coast, who kicked 75 goals during the home and away season.^[53]
• The Ron Evans Medal was awarded to Jesse Hogan of Melbourne, who received 49 votes.^[54]
• The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Cyril Rioli of Hawthorn.^[55]
• The AFL Goal of the Year was awarded to Eddie Betts of Adelaide.^[56]
• The AFL Mark of the Year was awarded to Nic Naitanui of West Coast.^[56]
• The McClelland Trophy was awarded to Fremantle for the first time in their history.^[57]
• The wooden spoon was "awarded" to Carlton for the first time since 2006.^[58]
• The AFL Players Association awards
  • The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Nat Fyfe of Fremantle for the second consecutive year.^[59]
  • The Robert Rose Award was awarded to Luke Parker of Sydney.^[60]
  • The Best Captain was awarded to Robert Murphy of the Western Bulldogs.^[61]
  • The Best First-Year Player was awarded to Isaac Heeney of Sydney.^[62]
  • The 22under22 Team captaincy was awarded to Jake Stringer of the Western Bulldogs.^[63]
• The AFL Coaches Association Awards^[64]
  • The AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year Award was awarded to Dan Hannebery of Sydney, who received 101 votes.^[65]
  • The Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year Award was awarded to Luke Beveridge of the Western Bulldogs.^[66]
  • The Assistant Coach of the Year Award was awarded to Adam Kingsley of St Kilda.
  • The Development Coach of the Year Award was awarded to Paul Hudson of St Kilda.
  • The Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to David Wheadon.
  • The Best Young Player Award was awarded to Marcus Bontempelli of the Western Bulldogs.
  • The Media Award was awarded to Gerard Whateley for his work on Fox Footy and ABC.
• The Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award was awarded to Dennis Armfield of Carlton.^[67]

Milestones

Name	Club	Milestone	Round
Heritier Lumumba	Melbourne	200 AFL games^[68]	Round 1
Sam Fisher	St Kilda	200 AFL games^[69]	Round 2
Brendon Goddard	Essendon	250 AFL games^[70]	Round 3
Grant Birchall	Hawthorn	200 AFL games^[71]	Round 7
Jarrad McVeigh	Sydney	250 AFL games^[72]	Round 7
Scott Pendlebury	Collingwood	200 AFL games^[73]	Round 8
Kane Cornes	Port Adelaide	300 AFL games^[74]	Round 8
Angus Monfries	Port Adelaide	200 AFL games^[75]	Round 9
Heath Shaw	Greater Western Sydney	200 AFL games^[76]	Round 9
Dustin Fletcher	Essendon	400 AFL games^[20]	Round 9
Michael Johnson	Fremantle	200 AFL games^[77]	Round 10
Corey Enright	Geelong	300 AFL games^[78]	Round 12
Farren Ray	St Kilda	200 AFL games^[79]	Round 13
Matthew Boyd	Western Bulldogs	250 AFL games^[80]	Round 14
Jobe Watson	Essendon	200 AFL games^[81]	Round 14
Dane Swan	Collingwood	250 AFL games^[82]	Round 15
Luke McPharlin	Fremantle	250 AFL games^[83]	Round 15
Dale Morris	Western Bulldogs	200 AFL games^[84]	Round 16
Lance Franklin	Sydney	700 AFL goals^[85]	Round 16
Marc Murphy	Carlton	200 AFL games^[86]	Round 17
Troy Chaplin	Richmond	200 AFL games^[87]	Round 17
Brent Harvey	North Melbourne	400 AFL games^[33]	Round 17
Jed Adcock	Brisbane Lions	200 AFL games^[88]	Round 17
Jarrad Waite	North Melbourne	200 AFL games^[89]	Round 18
Joel Selwood	Geelong	200 AFL games^[90]	Round 19
Sean Dempster	St Kilda	200 AFL games^[91]	Round 19
Steve Johnson	Geelong	250 AFL games^[92]	Round 20
Paul Roos	Melbourne	600 AFL games played/coached^[93]	Round 21
Michael Firrito	North Melbourne	250 AFL games^[94]	Round 22
Ted Richards	Sydney	250 AFL games^[95]	Round 22
Nathan Jones	Melbourne	200 AFL games^[96]	Round 22
Nathan Van Berlo	Adelaide	200 AFL games^[97]	Round 23
Brian Lake	Hawthorn	250 AFL games^[98]	Preliminary final
Nick Dal Santo	North Melbourne	300 AFL games^[99]	Preliminary final

Coleman Medal

See also: Coleman Medal

• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the Coleman that round.
• Underlined numbers indicates the player did not play that round.

	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	Total
1	Josh J. Kennedy	22	1012	113	316	622	123	427	431	637	340	343	346	046	248	250	353	356	258	462	264	771	172	375	75
2	Jeremy Cameron	44	15	27	411	112	719	524	226	329	332	234	135	035	237	542	244	044	246	248	351	354	761	263	63
3	Eddie Betts	44	15	16	410	515	520	626	329	231	132	032	133	235	035	237	138	341	142	244	549	352	254	458	58
4	Taylor Walker	66	28	311	112	214	418	321	425	025	126	026	127	229	029	332	335	237	239	241	344	751	354	155	55
5	Jake Stringer	33	25	05	611	112	416	016	218	018	220	020	525	025	328	230	131	132	436	440	444	549	150	454	54
6	Chad Wingard	22	13	14	15	27	29	110	212	214	317	421	526	026	329	332	335	338	442	244	347	451	253	053	53
7	Jack Gunston	11	34	26	39	413	215	116	117	219	322	022	022	325	227	027	431	637	340	040	141	344	448	452	52
8	Josh Bruce	22	68	210	212	517	118	523	225	126	228	129	029	332	537	239	140	141	142	143	245	348	048	250	50
	Jack Riewoldt	44	26	410	010	313	316	420	424	125	227	027	128	634	236	339	241	142	143	144	246	248	048	250	50
10	Lance Franklin	33	36	511	213	316	016	420	020	727	330	434	034	236	036	339	342	042	345	045	045	045	146	147	47

Best and fairest

Club	Award name	Player	Ref.
Adelaide	Malcolm Blight Medal	Patrick Dangerfield	^[100]
Brisbane Lions	Merrett–Murray Medal	Dayne Beams	^[101]
		Stefan Martin
		Mitch Robinson
		Dayne Zorko
Carlton	John Nicholls Medal	Patrick Cripps	^[102]
Collingwood	Copeland Trophy	Scott Pendlebury	^[103]
Essendon	Crichton Medal	Cale Hooker	^[104]
Fremantle	Doig Medal	Aaron Sandilands	^[105]
Geelong	Carji Greeves Medal	Mark Blicavs	^[106]
Gold Coast	Club Champion	Tom Lynch	^[107]
Greater Western Sydney	Kevin Sheedy Medal	Heath Shaw	^[108]
Hawthorn	Peter Crimmins Medal	Josh Gibson	^[109]
Melbourne	Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal	Bernie Vince	^[110]
North Melbourne	Syd Barker Medal	Todd Goldstein	^[111]
Port Adelaide	John Cahill Medal	Robbie Gray	^[112]
Richmond	Jack Dyer Medal	Alex Rance	^[113]
St Kilda	Trevor Barker Award	Jack Steven	^[114]
Sydney	Bob Skilton Medal	Josh Kennedy	^[115]
West Coast	John Worsfold Medal	Andrew Gaff	^[116]
Western Bulldogs	Charles Sutton Medal	Easton Wood	^[117]

Club leadership

Club	Coach	Captain(s)	Vice-captain(s)	Leadership group
Adelaide	Phil Walsh (Rds 1–13);^[1] Scott Camporeale (Rds 15–SF)^[118]	Taylor Walker^[119]		Patrick Dangerfield, Rory Sloane, Daniel Talia, Scott Thompson, Nathan van Berlo^[120]
Brisbane Lions	Justin Leppitsch	Tom Rockliff^[121]	Pearce Hanley, Daniel Rich, Dayne Zorko
Carlton	Mick Malthouse (Rds 1–8); John Barker (Rds 9–23)	Marc Murphy	Bryce Gibbs, Michael Jamison	Lachie Henderson, Sam Rowe^[122]
Collingwood	Nathan Buckley	Scott Pendlebury	Nathan Brown, Travis Cloke, Tyson Goldsack, Steele Sidebottom^[123]
Essendon	James Hird (Rds 1–20);^[124] Matthew Egan (Rds 21–23)	Jobe Watson		Paul Chapman, Brendon Goddard, Dyson Heppell, Cale Hooker, David Myers, Brent Stanton, David Zaharakis^[125]
Fremantle	Ross Lyon	Matthew Pavlich		Nat Fyfe, Luke McPharlin, David Mundy, Aaron Sandilands, Lee Spurr^[126]
Geelong	Chris Scott	Joel Selwood	Harry Taylor	Corey Enright, Tom Hawkins, Andrew Mackie^[127]
Gold Coast	Rodney Eade	Gary Ablett	Tom Lynch, Nick Malceski, Dion Prestia, Michael Rischitelli, David Swallow^[128]
Greater Western Sydney	Leon Cameron	Phil Davis Callan Ward	Tom Scully, Heath Shaw^[129]	Shane Mumford
Hawthorn	Alastair Clarkson	Luke Hodge	Jarryd Roughead, Jordan Lewis
Melbourne	Paul Roos	Nathan Jones	Lynden Dunn	Daniel Cross, Chris Dawes, Jack Grimes, Heritier Lumumba^[130]
North Melbourne	Brad Scott	Andrew Swallow	Jack Ziebell, Drew Petrie	Nick Dal Santo, Sam Gibson, Jamie Macmillan, Drew Petrie, Scott Thompson, Jack Ziebell^[131]
Port Adelaide	Ken Hinkley	Travis Boak	Brad Ebert, Matthew Lobbe^[132]	Hamish Hartlett, Tom Jonas, Jackson Trengove, Ollie Wines
Richmond	Damien Hardwick	Trent Cotchin	Brett Deledio, Ivan Maric^[133]	Troy Chaplin, Steven Morris^[134]
St Kilda	Alan Richardson	Nick Riewoldt		David Armitage, Sean Dempster, Jarryn Geary, Leigh Montagna, Jack Newnes, Maverick Weller^[135]
Sydney	John Longmire	Kieren Jack Jarrad McVeigh		Adam Goodes, Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker, Rhyce Shaw, Nick Smith^[136]
West Coast	Adam Simpson	Shannon Hurn^[137]	Josh Kennedy, Scott Selwood	Eric Mackenzie, Matt Priddis, Beau Waters^[138]
Western Bulldogs	Luke Beveridge	Robert Murphy^[139]	Jordan Roughead	Matthew Boyd, Tom Liberatore, Dale Morris^[140]

Coach changes

Coach	Club	Date	Notes	Caretaker	New coach
Mick Malthouse	Carlton	26 May 2015	Sacked after the Carlton board lost trust in Malthouse and the club and coach were not aligned, in addition to the club suffering from poor results on the field.^[141]^[142]	John Barker	Brendon Bolton^[143]
Phil Walsh	Adelaide	3 July 2015	Deceased	Scott Camporeale	Don Pyke^[144]
James Hird	Essendon	18 August 2015	Resigned due to poor on-field performances^[124]	Matthew Egan	John Worsfold^[145]

Club financials

2015 AFL membership figures

Club	Members^[146]	Change from 2014	% Change from 2014
Adelaide	52,920	1,329	2.45%
Brisbane Lions	25,408	1,396	5.81%
Carlton	47,305	180	0.38%
Collingwood	75,037	2,850	5.43%
Essendon	60,818	172	0.28%
Fremantle	51,433	2,656	5.45%
Geelong	44,312	509	1.16%
Gold Coast	13,643	165	1.22%
Greater Western Sydney	13,480	440	3.37%
Hawthorn	72,924	4,274	6.23%
Melbourne	35,953	42	0.12%
North Melbourne	41,012	2425	6.15%
Port Adelaide	54,057	5,089	10.39%
Richmond	70,809	4,687	7.09%
St Kilda	32,746	2,007	6.53%
Sydney	48,836	8,710	21.71%
West Coast	60,221	1,692	2.89%
Western Bulldogs	35,222	3,684	11.68%
Total	836,136	31,656	3.93%

Post-season

International Rules Series

Main article: 2015 International Rules Test

The International Rules Series returned in November 2015, with Ireland entitled to the hosting rights. The match was played on Saturday, 21 November 2015 at Dublin's Croke Park. A highly qualified Australian side, who were looking for back-to-back series wins, fell to a classy Irish team by 4 points.^[147]

	2015 International Rules Test
Saturday, 21 November (7:00pm IST)	Ireland 3.11.5 (56)	def.	Australia 1.13.7 (52)	Croke Park, Dublin (crowd: 38,386)	Report
Jim Stynes Medal: Harry Taylor

Notable events and controversies

Doping and drugs

The AFL suffered significant bad publicity during 2015 related to four cases of illicit substance abuse in AFL clubs – three related to doping and one related to recreational drugs:

• The Essendon Football Club supplements controversy – relating to the supplements program operating at the Essendon Football Club during the 2011/12 offseason – continued to be heard during the 2015 season. The 34 players implicated in the controversy were served with infraction notices in November 2014, and were provisionally suspended until their hearings at the AFL anti-doping tribunal were complete.^[148] In the week before the start of the AFL season, the players were found not guilty and their suspensions were lifted.^[149] In May 2015, the World Anti-Doping Agency announced an appeal of the not guilty verdicts to the Court of Arbitration for Sport;^[150] this was ultimately heard in early 2016, and resulted in the not guilty verdicts being overturned and many players being suspended for the 2016 season.
• Ryan Crowley (Fremantle) faced the AFL anti-doping tribunal after having tested positive to a banned substance in a drug test after Fremantle's round 17, 2014 win against Greater Western Sydney. He commenced a provisional suspension commenced after a positive confirmation tests (also known as B-sample) mid September 2014. He appeared before the AFL Tribunal in May 2015, and was found guilty suspended for twelve months, backdated to the beginning of his provisional suspension; he became eligible to play again on 25 September 2015. The banned substance has not been identified, but is understood to have been present in a painkiller which Crowley had taken but which was not prescribed by the club doctor.^[151]
• Lachlan Keeffe and Josh Thomas (both of Collingwood) tested positive to the banned substance clenbuterol in drug tests taken in February 2015. Both accepted provisional suspensions in March and returned positive B-samples in May.^[152] Both were handed infraction notices in July^[153] and accepted two-year bans in August (backdated to March), in addition they were delisted and fined $50,000 each by Collingwood.^[154]
• In late June, former Gold Coast player Karmichael Hunt, who was being investigated by the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission over allegations of cocaine supply and possession, named several current Gold Coast players as having taken illicit recreational drugs during his time at the club.^[155] Although nothing further came from Hunt's allegations, days later, photographs from early 2013 emerged showing Gold Coast's Harley Bennell using speed; and a teammate, whose anonymity is protected under the AFL's drugs policy, self-reported shortly afterwards that he had also been present and taken the drug.^[156] Bennell was fined $5000 and suspended for three matches.^[157]

Death of Phil Walsh

In the early hours of Friday 3 July 2015, Adelaide coach Phil Walsh was found dead at his Adelaide residency following a domestic violence incident; he was killed by his son, Cy, who was charged with his murder, and ultimately found not guilty due to mental incompetence, meaning he is now subject to a lifetime psychiatric supervision order and is permanently detained at the James Nash House forensic Mental Health Facility.^[158] Walsh's wife Meredith also suffered injuries in the incident.^[1] In the immediate aftermath, the match between Adelaide and Geelong, which was to have been played on Sunday 5 July, was cancelled, with the clubs sharing two premiership points each.^[27] At the remaining seven matches of the round (Sydney and Port Adelaide had already played on Thursday night), respect was paid to Walsh by observing moments of silence both before and after the match; and pre- and post-match celebrations or promotions, including the playing of club songs and running through banners, were not carried out.^[159]

References

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2. . Triple M. 19 February 2015. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
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4. Malcolm, Alex (21 February 2015). "Burgoyne jumps on Jack Martin after being best afield for All Stars". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
5. Guthrie, Ben (28 October 2014). "Footy heads back to the 'burbs with 2015 NAB Challenge fixture". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
6. Wilson, Caroline (21 October 2014). "AFL plans a fan-friendly 2015 fixture". The Age. Fairfax Media.
7. Cordy, Neil (22 October 2014). "Swans v Giants Sydney derby in round 3 at SCG as cricket World Cup causes AFL fixture headaches". The Daily Telegraph. News Corp Australia.
8. "Super Saturday is coming". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. 29 October 2014.
9. Twomey, Callum (5 August 2015). "Super Saturday looming: round 23 fixture revealed". Australian Football League. Telstra Media. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
10. Guthrie, Ben (4 April 2015). "Five talking points: Melbourne v Gold Coast". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. The nine-year streak comprised eight losses and one draw.
11. Roje Adaimy (4 April 2015). . The West Australian. Perth, WA. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
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13. Wilson, Chris (15 April 2015). "Turnstile mistake miscounts Giants crowd in Canberra". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media.
14. "Nine things we learned from round two". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. 12 April 2015.
15. Travis King (1 May 2015). "Collingwood cruises to win as Malthouse milestone falls flat". Australian Football League. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
16. Nat Edwards (9 May 2015). "Resurrected Saints down Dogs after stunning comeback". Australian Football League. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
17. "Where St Kilda's comeback win over the Bulldogs ranks in footy history". Herald Sun. 9 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
18. Malcolm, Alex (16 May 2015). "Red-hot Eagles storm to huge win in wet conditions". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
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21. "Season and Game Records (1965–2015)". AFL Tables. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
22. Thring, Harry (30 May 2015). "Record-breaking Sandilands the difference, says Lyon". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media.
23. Vince Rugari (13 June 2015). "Dockers hang on to down spirited Suns in a thriller". Australian Football League. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
24. Wilson, Tom (30 May 2015). "Dockers edge Crows in tough slog to stay perfect". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media.
25. Curley, Adam (20 June 2015). . AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
26. Guthrie, Ben (21 June 2015). "Dees end decade of heartbreak with drought-breaking Simonds Stadium win". Australian Football League. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
27. Ralph, Jon (3 July 2015). "Phil Walsh murdered: AFL confirms cancellation of Adelaide v Geelong, rest of Round 14 to go ahead". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
28. King, Travis (3 July 2015). "Matches delayed to allow minute's silence". AFL. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
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33. Denham, Greg (22 July 2015). "Brent Harvey to become fourth player to play 400 games". The Australian. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
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35. Patrick Keane (4 August 2015). "AFL to trial four umpires in QClash10". Retrieved 14 June 2016.
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January 01, 1970