How the 2026 AFL season is structured, what the top 8 really means, and the tie-break rules that decide finals matches.
A home-and-away season of 23 matches per club. A top-8 finals series run across September. A premiership decided on the last Saturday of the month. The structure is simple on the surface — but the detail matters, particularly when things go down to percentage or when a final finishes level.
Each AFL club plays 23 matches in the premiership competition (22 for clubs with a dedicated bye in a given round), running from the Opening Round in early March through Round 24 in late August. Each club faces every other club at least once, with rematches added to complete the schedule.
Points are awarded 4 for a win, 2 for a draw, 0 for a loss. When teams finish level on points, ranking is decided by percentage — total points scored divided by total points conceded, multiplied by 100. Percentage has separated premiership aspirants from the chasing pack more than once, and explains why clubs in the bottom half of the draw still fight for every goal in Round 24.
The top eight clubs at the end of Round 24 qualify for the finals series. The format has been unchanged since 2000: four weeks, nine matches, one premier. Week one pairs 1v4 and 2v3 in qualifying finals, with 5v8 and 6v7 in elimination finals. The winners of the qualifying finals earn a week off before preliminary finals; the losers drop into semi-finals against elimination winners.
The regulations are explicit about what happens if scores are level at the end of regulation time in a final. Unlike the home-and-away season, finals cannot end in a draw. Extra time applies from the first week of the finals through the Grand Final.
Three minutes plus time-on, each way, twice. If scores remain level after both periods of extra time, play continues until the next score. The rule is designed to end the match on the field rather than through countback — a lesson learned from the 2010 Grand Final, which was replayed a week later when the original match finished level and no extra time was played.
The AFL Grand Final follows the same extra-time protocol as earlier finals. A tied Grand Final after both periods of extra time continues until the next score — replacing the drawn Grand Final replay system that existed until 2016.
The Dr. William C. McClelland Trophy (Regulation 28) is awarded to the club that finishes first on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season — separate from the premiership cup itself. It recognises sustained excellence over 23 matches rather than success in September. The trophy is presented at the end of Round 24 and has been contested since 1991.