AFL

The 2024 AFL Grand Final saw the Brisbane Lions beat the Sydney Swans by 60 points for their 4th Premiership success! 

2024 AFL Season

The 2024 AFL season was the 128th season of professional Aussie Rules. The same 18 clubs that faced off in the last 12 seasons of AFL did battle again. Collingwood were the defending champions having won the 2023 AFL Premiership when defeating the Lions by just four points in the AFL 2023 Grand Final.

The Brisbane Lions atoned when taking out the 2024 AFL Grand Final by 60 points in a huge victory over the Sydney Swans at the MCG. 

The AFL 2024 fixtures got underway on Thursday March 7, 2024 with the opening match between the Sydney Swans and Melbourne at the SCG.

For the first time in Aussie Rules history, the 2024 season did not begin with Round 1. Instead, a four-game ‘Opening Round’ took place before the official full eight game Round 1 got underway from Thursday March 14.

There were then an increased 25 regular AFL rounds in the 2024 season.

The 2024 AFL Grand Final played out Saturday the 28th of September between the Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions with the Lions winning by 60 points with their impressive 120 – 60 victory to claim their 4th AFL Premiership title.

The AFL stands for the Australian Football League and is the leading professional Australian Rules competition run down under each year.

Featuring 18 teams the league was founded back in 1897 as the Victorian Football League (VFL) when just eight teams from Victoria faced off. Five Australian states are now represented in the current AFL Premiership, which came about in 1990 when the league was officially renamed to make for a more national competition, although Victoria continues to dominate with 10 still in the mix including nine from Melbourne.

The other states with AFL teams are New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia each with two clubs in the competition. The first non-Victorian AFL club was the Sydney Swans that came about when South Melbourne relocated interstate in 1982 and interest in the game grew.

Unlike in the NRL there is no New Zealand AFL club, although New Zealand has been host to offshore AFL games over the years.

There is also a fast-growing AFLW (Women’s AFL competition) that has expanded to 14 teams from 2019 taking place ahead of the AFL season.

AFL FIXTURES

AFL BETTING TIPS

2025 AFL BROWNLOW MEDAL BETTING

The current AFL teams are the:

• Adelaide Crows (SA)
• Brisbane Lions (QLD)
• Carlton Blues (VIC)
• Collingwood Magpies (VIC)
• Essendon Bombers (VIC)
• Fremantle Dockers (WA)
• Geelong Cats (VIC)
• Gold Coast Suns (QLD)
• Great Western Sydney Giants (NSW)
• Hawthorn Hawks (VIC)
• Melbourne Demons (VIC)
• North Melbourne Kangaroos (VIC)
• Port Adelaide Power (SA)
• Richmond Tigers (VIC)
• St Kilda Saints (VIC)
• Sydney Swans (NSW)
• West Coast Eagles (WA)
• Western Bulldogs (VIC)

In 2017, The Richmond Tigers celebrated their first Premiership in 37 years. Photo by The Herald Sun

Of these seven are foundation clubs having inaugurated in 1897 with Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and Sydney the oldest AFL
clubs in the competition.

The AFL Premiership in 2024 has expanded to a 25-week regular season with the addition of a four-match Opening Round ahead of the official Round 1 fixtures that runs from March to September each year.

The 24 AFL Rounds lead into the highly anticipated AFL Finals football that pits the Top 8 teams on the AFL Ladder in a four-round series that culminates with the AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Some of the other key AFL games over the season are the Collingwood vs. Essendon ANZAC Day match at the MCG and the Queen’s Birthday fixture between Melbourne and Collingwood.

As well as the Premiership title there are plenty of other coveted AFL awards up for grabs for the teams and players each year including the Brownlow Medal awarded to the fairest and best player in the league – Brownlow Medal betting on offer throughout the season.

Collingwood, Essendon and Carlton all share the record of most VFL / AFL Premiership wins with 16 each following the Magpies’ win in the 2023 AFL Grand Final. Collingwood also boast the most AFL Grand Final appearances with 46.

AFL ODDS

The AFL odds on the seasonal Premiership competition attract massive amounts of interest each year with online sports betting markets available on the Aussie Rules pre-season.

There are now 25 regular or home-and-away AFL Round betting markets open plus Australian Rules odds on the AFL finals and Grand Final to add interest to the AFL fixtures. Punters can also enjoy specialty AFL odds on a range of other markets like the season’s Brownlow Medal Winner.

AFL betting features standard sports odds like head-to-head markets on the weekly games across the AFL draw plus exotic options including the winning margin of a game, first goal kicker and quarter-time score predictions.

All of this plus the generous AFL Premiership odds open across the season where you can back your favourite AFL club to win the end-of-season Grand Final played at the MCG.

AFL odds are updated at the end of each round and as well as the head-to-head markets there are the always popular line betting odds and Ladbrokes exclusive AFL Season Pricing open all season with markets for all 25 rounds open even before the first Premiership game is played.

AFL BET TYPES

See below for some of the most popular AFL bet types.

AFL Head-to-Head Betting

Head-to-head odds are simple and feature a price on both teams facing off in a selected AFL game to win the match. The same price can be offered if the two clubs are deemed an equal chance of winning, but usually there is a favourite at shorter AFL odds. These markets are affected by things like lead-up form across the season, their record at the venue, whether they are playing at home or away and the AFL team selections for the match.

AFL Line Betting

Line betting is the second most popular type of AFL odds on offer for each game. The line is the winning spread of points a team must either win or lose by for that bet to pay out. For example, if West Coast are at +40.5 @ $1.87 that means they must beat their rivals in that game by more than 40.5 points for you to collect on the bet.

AFL Season Pricing

Ladbrokes were the first online sports bookmaker in Australia to offer exclusive AFL season pricing with head-to-head betting markets available for all 25 rounds of the home-and-away season. These markets give supporters an excellent opportunity to back their favourite AFL team across the full season. AFL season pricing is updated each round so checking back on a weekly basis is key. We have these markets available By Rounds or By Team to make it even easier to follow your club.

AFL Premiership Betting

The futures AFL Premiership betting odds list the prices on offer for each of the AFL teams to win the annual Grand Final. The markets are affected by the round-by-round AFL results and usually the teams sitting the highest on the AFL ladder are at the shortest price to win the competition.

AFL Minor Premiership Betting

The AFL Minor Premiership odds are the markets on offer for each Australian Rules football club to win that season’s Minor Premiership and finish the regular 25 round season at the top of the AFL Ladder. Since 1991 the AFL Minor Premiers have been awarded the McClelland Trophy. Interesting to note is that as of 2015 of the 119 VFL/AFL Minor Premiership winners, 64 have continued on to win that season’s Grand Final. A further 41 finished runners-up losing the Grand Final and just 14 didn’t make a Grand Final appearance. Collingwood have won the most VFL/AFL Minor Premierships with 19 in total.

AFL Place Betting

AFL Place betting are futures odds open on the clubs to either Make the Top 4 or Make the Top 8 on the AFL premiership ladder at the end of the home-and-away season. It is essential to finish in the first eight positions on the AFL ladder to make the AFL Finals and prices are on offer for all the AFL teams to finish in these coveted spots. Punters can also find AFL odds on each club to Miss the Top 8.

AFL Season Wins Betting

Betting on AFL Season wins is open even before the start of the annual Premiership and lists prices club-by-club to record either under or over a certain number of wins across the overall 24 week regular season leading up to the finals series.

Brownlow Medal Betting

The AFL’s Brownlow Medal – officially the Charles Brownlow Trophy – is awarded to the fairest and best professional Australian Football League player of the home-and-away season. The decision is made based on the votes cast by field umpires after each game during the AFL fixtures and is a highly coveted award. Brownlow Medal odds list the specific players monetary chances to win the sport’s most prestigious individual award.

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