The 2018 AFL season was the 122nd season of the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling ...

(AFL), the highest level senior men's

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured eighteen clubs, ran from 22 March until 29 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a

finals series Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

featuring the top eight clubs. The premiership was won by the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...

for the fourth time, after it defeated by five points in the

AFL Grand Final The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. From its inception until 1989, it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league at that time was the Victori ...

Pre-season

AFLX

On 17 November 2017, the AFL confirmed that the pre-season would feature an

AFLX AFLX is a variation of Australian rules football designed in 2017 to be played on a football pitch (significantly smaller than the Australian rules football playing field), unlike the full 18-a-side game or the established variant for rectangu ...

competition. The game is played on a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

-sized pitch over two ten minute halves. Each team features seven players on the field and three interchange players. Teams were split into three groups of six, with a grand final to be held for each group. The matches were played from 15–17 February 2018. The winners of the competition were

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

JLT Community Series

The pre-season series of games returned as the 2018 JLT Community Series. The number of games was reduced compared to the previous season, with teams playing two games each. The games were stand-alone, with no overall winner of the series. Each team played two games, many at suburban or regional venues, while all games were televised on

Fox Footy Fox Footy (stylised as FOX FOOTY) is an Australian rules football subscription television channel dedicated to screening Australian rules football matches and related programming. It is owned by Fox Sports Pty Limited, operated out of their Me ...

Premiership season

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

Season notes

* lost its first seven matches, the longest losing streak to start a season in the club's history. * Carlton's total of two wins for the season was the club's fewest wins in a season since

1901 Events January * January 1 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton becomes the first Prime Minist ...

. * qualified for the finals for the first time since

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

Win/loss table

Bold – Home game
X – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

Ladder progression

*Numbers highlighted in green indicates the team finished the round inside the top 8. *Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished in first place 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 indicates the team had a bye during that round. *Subscript numbers indicate ladder position at round's end.

Positions of teams round by round

Finals series

Week one

Week two

Week three

Week four

Finals notes

* qualified for a preliminary final for the first time since

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, and qualified for the finals for the first time since

. * qualified for the grand final for the first time since

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

, and qualified for the finals for the first time since

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Attendances

By club

By ground

Awards

*The

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by t ...

was awarded to Tom Mitchell of who polled 28 votes. *The

Coleman Medal The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most goals in the home-and-away season. It is named after Essendon full-forward John Coleman, one of the most ...

was awarded to

Jack Riewoldt Jack Riewoldt ( ; born 31 October 1988) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a three-time premiership player, a three-time Coleman Medallist, a thr ...

of , who kicked 65 goals during the home and away season. It was the third time Riewoldt has won the award. *The Ron Evans Medal was awarded to

Jaidyn Stephenson Jaidyn Stephenson (born 15 January 1999) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), having been initially drafted to the Collingwood Football Club. AFL ...

of , who received 52 votes. *The

Norm Smith Medal The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the Grand Final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990 the competition was known as the Victorian Footbal ...

was awarded to

Luke Shuey Luke Shuey (born 2 June 1990) is an Australian rules footballer and the captain of the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Shuey was recruited from the Oakleigh Chargers with pick 20 in the 2008 National Draft. After a ...

of . *The AFL Goal of the Year was awarded to

Jack Higgins Henry "Harry" Patterson (27 July 1929 – 9 April 2022), commonly known by his pen name Jack Higgins, was a British author. He was a best-selling author of popular thrillers and espionage novels. His novel '' The Eagle Has Landed'' (1975) so ...

of for his goal against in round 19. *The

AFL Mark of the Year The annual Australian Football League Mark of the Year competition (currently also known as the Four'N Twenty AFL Mark of the Year) is a sporting award that celebrates each season's best mark. A mark is the action of a player cleanly catchin ...

was awarded to Isaac Heeney of for his mark against in round 21. *The

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy which has been awarded each year since 1951 by the Australian Football League (known prior to 1990 as the Victorian Football League) to the best-performing club in the home-and-away sea ...

was awarded to for the first time since

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

. *The

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

was "awarded" to for the first time since

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

after obtaining a club low two wins during the season. *The

AFL Players Association Awards The AFL Players Association (AFLPA) awards are a group of awards given annually to players in the Australian Football League, voted for by all AFL players. Main awards The AFLPA nominates the following four awards as their main awards. Leigh Mat ...

: **The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Tom Mitchell of polling 773 votes ahead of

Patrick Cripps Patrick Cripps (born 18 March 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Cripps won the Leigh Matthews Trophy in 2019 and the Brownlow Medal in 2022, and is ...

who polled 529. **The Robert Rose Award was awarded to

Callan Ward Callan Ward (born 10 April 1990) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Western Bulldogs from 2008 to 2011. Ward received ...

of . **The best captain was awarded to

Trent Cotchin Trent William Cotchin (born 7 April 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist, an All-Australian, a three-time Richmond best and fairest ...

of . **The best first year player was awarded to Tim Kelly of . **The 22under22 team captaincy was awarded to

Marcus Bontempelli Marcus Bontempelli (born 24 November 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He has served as Western Bulldogs captain since the 2020 season, and was previ ...

of the for the third year in a row. *The

AFL Coaches Association The AFL Coaches Association (AFLCA) is the representative body for Australian Football League coaches. History The AFLCA was founded in 2002, and as of 2015 had 178 members. Every year annually since 2003, the AFLCA has released a set of awards ...

Awards: **The AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year Award was awarded to Max Gawn of who received 97 votes ahead of

who received 91. **The Gary Ayres Award for the best player in the finals series was awarded to

Steele Sidebottom Steele Sidebottom (born 2 January 1991) is a professional Australian rules football player currently playing for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League. Sidebottom was selected by Collingwood with selection 11 in the ...

of who polled 23 votes ahead of teammate

Taylor Adams Taylor Adams (born 20 September 1993) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Greater Western Sydney Giants from 2012 to 2013. ...

on 18. **The Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year Award was awarded to coach

Nathan Buckley Nathan Charles Buckley (born 26 July 1972) is a former professional Australian rules football coach, player and commentator. He is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the top 50 players of all time. Buckley won the inaugural Rising St ...

. **The Assistant Coach of the Year Award was awarded to assistant

Rhyce Shaw Rhyce Shaw (born 16 October 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club and Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the former senior coach of the North Melbourne ...

for the second year in a row. **The Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Alan Stewart for his contribution to football in South Australia. **The Best Young Player Award was awarded to Tom Stewart of who received 40 votes. **The Media Award was awarded to Gerard Whateley for the fifth consecutive year. *The Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award was awarded to

Neville Jetta Neville Jetta (born 12 February 1990) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Jetta was drafted by Melbourne with the 51st selection in the 2008 national draft ...

of .

Milestones

Coleman Medal

*Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the Coleman Medal at the end of that round. *Numbers underlined indicates the player did not play in that round.

Best and fairest

Club leadership

Club membership

References

{{2018 AFL season Australian Football League seasons 2018 Australian Football League season 2018 in Australian rules football