2013 AFL season
The 2013 Australian Football League season was the 117th season of the elite Australian rules football competition and the 24th under the name 'Australian Football League', having switched from 'Victorian Football League' after 1989.
The season opened on 22 March, with hosting, and concluded on 28 September with defeating in the AFL Grand Final. It was Hawthorn's eleventh VFL/AFL premiership, and Fremantle's first grand final appearance.
The season was marred by a series of off-field controversies, with three clubs penalised in 2013 for separate infractions which had taken place over previous years:, following an investigation into irregularities in the club's supplements program;, after illegal payments and draft tampering charges relating to Kurt Tippett's 2009 contract extension; and, after an investigation into allegations that the club had intentionally lost matches towards the end of the 2009 season.
Pre-season
All Stars game
The biennial All Star game played in the Northern Territory, 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 2013 pre-season. Richmond were selected as the AFL team to partake in the game, which was played at Traeger Park in Alice Springs.NAB Cup
The 2013 NAB Cup was won by the Brisbane Lions, their first ever win preseason competition win, when they defeated Carlton by 40 points.Premiership season
The full fixture was released on Wednesday 31 October 2012.- For the second consecutive year, the AFL's opening round was spread across two weekends.
- Due to concern over one-sided matches, each of the top four teams from 2012 played each of the bottom four teams only once each – except that Sydney played local rival Greater Western Sydney twice, and that the played twice.
- None of the bottom five teams from 2012 featured in a Friday night match during the home-and-away season. This is due to the AFL's policy of awarding Friday night matches only to teams that perform consistently throughout the season.
- This season was the last in which AFL football was played at AAMI Stadium, with both and moving to a redeveloped Adelaide Oval from the 2014 season.
- Match starting times are local.
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
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 |
| Ess 35 | BL 19 | PA 9 | WB 52 | Carl 32 | Haw 11 | GWS 135 | StK 40 | NM 1 | Frem 7 | Syd 77 | Rich 38 | X | GC 28 | WCE 6 | Coll 27 | Geel 2 | Frem 22 | PA 4 | NM 9 | WB 17 | Melb 68 | WCE 86 | X | X | X | X | 11 | |
| WB 68 | Adel 19 | GC 2 | NM 63 | Melb 28 | Syd 60 | WCE 26 | Ess 10 | Carl 13 | Coll 49 | X | Frem 40 | Geel 5 | Haw 58 | GC 33 | NM 12 | Melb 19 | PA 9 | StK 31 | Rich 23 | GWS 60 | WB 7 | Geel 1 | X | X | X | X | 12 | |
| Rich 5 | Coll 17 | Geel 16 | WCE 24 | Adel 32 | Melb 61 | StK 9 | PA 18 | BL 13 | GWS 94 | Ess 5 | Haw 16 | X | Syd 22 | Coll 41 | StK 36 | NM 1 | GC 43 | Frem 36 | WB 28 | Rich 10 | Ess 6 | PA 1 | Rich 20 | Syd 24 | X | X | 8 | |
| NM 16 | Carl 17 | Haw 55 | Rich 34 | Ess 46 | StK 26 | Frem 27 | Geel 6 | Syd 47 | BL 49 | Melb 83 | WB 34 | X | PA 35 | Carl 41 | Adel 27 | GC 7 | GWS 40 | Ess 79 | Syd 29 | Haw 35 | WCE 62 | NM 11 | PA 24 | X | X | X | 6 | |
| Adel 35 | Melb 148 | Frem 4 | StK 37 | Coll 46 | GWS 39 | Geel 28 | BL 10 | Rich 29 | Syd 44 | Carl 5 | GC 43 | X | WCE 7 | PA 30 | WB 31 | GWS 39 | Haw 56 | Coll 79 | WCE 53 | NM 45 | Carl 6 | Rich 39 | X | X | X | X | 9 | |
| WCE 28 | WB 28 | Ess 4 | Haw 42 | Rich 1 | GC 45 | Coll 27 | Syd 0 | Melb 90 | Adel 7 | X | BL 40 | NM 38 | Geel 41 | StK 30 | WCE 28 | Rich 27 | Adel 22 | Carl 36 | GWS 113 | Melb 95 | PA 74 | StK 71 | Geel 15 | X | Syd 25 | Haw 15 | 3 | |
| Haw 7 | NM 4 | Carl 16 | Syd 21 | WB 21 | Rich 44 | Ess 28 | Coll 6 | PA 48 | GC 52 | GWS 59 | X | BL 5 | Frem 41 | Haw 10 | Melb 68 | Adel 2 | StK 101 | NM 10 | PA 25 | WCE 66 | Syd 44 | BL 1 | Frem 15 | PA 16 | Haw 5 | X | 2 | |
| StK 13 | Syd 41 | BL 2 | PA 38 | GWS 44 | Frem 45 | Melb 60 | WB 32 | Haw 26 | Geel 52 | NM 15 | Ess 43 | X | Adel 28 | BL 33 | Rich 9 | Coll 7 | Carl 43 | WCE 17 | Melb 13 | PA 17 | StK 46 | GWS 83 | X | X | X | X | 14 | |
| Syd 30 | PA 56 | StK 72 | Melb 41 | GC 44 | Ess 39 | Adel 135 | Haw 83 | WCE 100 | Carl 94 | Geel 59 | PA 75 | X | NM 86 | WB 4 | Syd 129 | Ess 39 | Coll 40 | Melb 37 | Frem 113 | BL 60 | Rich 121 | GC 83 | X | X | X | X | 18 | |
| Geel 7 | WCE 50 | Coll 55 | Frem 42 | NM 3 | Adel 11 | Syd 37 | GWS 83 | GC 26 | Melb 95 | X | Carl 16 | WCE 20 | BL 58 | Geel 10 | PA 45 | WB 19 | Ess 56 | Rich 41 | StK 46 | Coll 35 | NM 14 | Syd 12 | Syd 54 | X | Geel 5 | Frem 15 | 1 | |
| PA 79 | Ess 148 | WCE 94 | GWS 41 | BL 28 | Carl 61 | GC 60 | Rich 34 | Frem 90 | Haw 95 | Coll 83 | X | StK 35 | WB 3 | Syd 31 | Geel 68 | BL 19 | NM 122 | GWS 37 | GC 13 | Frem 95 | Adel 68 | WB 20 | X | X | X | X | 17 | |
| Coll 16 | Geel 4 | Syd 39 | BL 63 | Haw 3 | PA 10 | WB 54 | WCE 2 | Adel 1 | StK 68 | GC 15 | X | Frem 38 | GWS 86 | Rich 62 | BL 12 | Carl 1 | Melb 122 | Geel 10 | Adel 9 | Ess 45 | Haw 14 | Coll 11 | X | X | X | X | 10 | |
| Melb 79 | GWS 56 | Adel 9 | GC 38 | WCE 5 | NM 10 | Rich 41 | Carl 18 | Geel 48 | WB 9 | X | GWS 75 | Syd 18 | Coll 35 | Ess 30 | Haw 45 | StK 5 | BL 9 | Adel 4 | Geel 25 | GC 17 | Frem 74 | Carl 1 | Coll 24 | Geel 16 | X | X | 7 | |
| Carl 5 | StK 17 | WB 67 | Coll 35 | Frem 1 | Geel 44 | PA 41 | Melb 34 | Ess 29 | WCE 41 | X | Adel 38 | WB 60 | StK 64 | NM 62 | GC 9 | Frem 27 | Syd 47 | Haw 41 | BL 23 | Carl 10 | GWS 121 | Ess 39 | Carl 20 | X | X | X | 5 | |
| GC 13 | Rich 17 | GWS 72 | Ess 37 | Syd 16 | Coll 26 | Carl 9 | Adel 40 | WB 9 | NM 68 | WCE 4 | X | Melb 35 | Rich 64 | Frem 30 | Carl 36 | PA 5 | Geel 101 | BL 31 | Haw 46 | Syd 59 | GC 46 | Frem 71 | X | X | X | X | 16 | |
| GWS 30 | GC 41 | NM 39 | Geel 21 | StK 16 | BL 60 | Haw 37 | Frem 0 | Coll 47 | Ess 44 | Adel 77 | X | PA 18 | Carl 22 | Melb 31 | GWS 129 | WCE 34 | Rich 47 | WB 35 | Coll 29 | StK 59 | Geel 44 | Haw 12 | Haw 54 | Carl 24 | Frem 25 | X | 4 | |
| Frem 28 | Haw 50 | Mel 94 | Carl 24 | PA 5 | WB 70 | BL 26 | NM 2 | GWS 100 | Rich 41 | StK 4 | X | Haw 20 | Ess 7 | Adel 6 | Frem 28 | Syd 34 | WB 22 | GC 17 | Ess 53 | Geel 66 | Coll 62 | Adel 86 | X | X | X | X | 13 | |
| BL 68 | Frem 28 | Rich 67 | Adel 52 | Geel 21 | WCE 70 | NM 54 | GC 32 | StK 9 | PA 9 | X | Coll 34 | Rich 60 | Melb 3 | GWS 4 | Ess 31 | Haw 19 | WCE 22 | Syd 35 | Carl 28 | Adel 17 | BL 7 | Melb 20 | X | X | X | X | 15 | |
| 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 |
Bold – Home game
X – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin
Ladder
Ladder progression
Finals series
Week one
Week two
Week three
- defeated for the first time since the 2008 AFL Grand Final to end the Kennett curse.
Week four
Attendances
By club
By ground
Awards
- The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Brian Lake of.
- The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Gary Ablett, Jr. of, who received 28 votes.
- The AFL Rising Star was awarded to Jaeger O'Meara of, who received 44 votes.
- The Coleman Medal was awarded to Jarryd Roughead of, who kicked 68 goals during the home and away season.
- The McClelland Trophy was awarded to for the second year in a row.
- The Wooden Spoon was "awarded" to for the second year in a row.
- The AFL Players Association awards
- *The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Gary Ablett, Jr. of for a record fifth time.
- *The Robert Rose Award was awarded to Joel Selwood of for the second year in a row and third time overall.
- *The Best Captain was awarded to Joel Selwood of.
- *The Best First-Year Player was awarded to Jaeger O'Meara of.
- The AFL Coaches Association Awards were as follows:
- *The Player of the Year Award was given to Scott Pendlebury of, who received 96 votes.
- *The Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year Award was awarded to Ken Hinkley of
- *The Assistant Coach of the Year Award was awarded to Robert Harvey of.
- *The Development Coach of the Year Award was awarded to Chris Maple of.
- *The Support Staff Leadership Award was awarded to Stephen Wells of.
- *The Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to George Stone.
- *The Best Young Player Award was awarded to Jeremy Cameron of.
- The Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award was awarded to Zac Smith of.
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 | Jarryd Roughead | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 68 |
| 2 | Travis Cloke | 4 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 66 |
| 3 | Jeremy Cameron | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 62 |
| 4 | Josh J. Kennedy | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| 5 | Lance Franklin | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 58 |
| 6 | Jack Riewoldt | 0 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 57 |
| 7 | Lindsay Thomas | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 53 |
| 8 | Nick Riewoldt | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 50 |
| 9 | Tom Hawkins | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 46 |
| 10 | Jay Schulz | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 44 |
Best and fairest
Club leadership
Club membership
Coach changes
Post-season
International Rules Series
The International Rules Series was played between Australia and Ireland for the first time since 2011. For the first time, the Australian team was represented by the Indigenous All Stars. As in previous years, two test matches were played, and the series was decided on aggregate. The series was held in Ireland, and was won by Ireland 2-0 and on an aggregate margin of 173-72 points.Notable events and controversies
Adelaide Crows–Kurt Tippett contract scandal
During the trade period leading up to the 2013 season, Adelaide Crows forward Kurt Tippett sought to be traded. During trade negotiations, information was uncovered which brought into question the legality under AFL rules of Tippett's 2009 contract extension with Adelaide. The AFL investigated Tippett's contract during October and November, and charged Tippett and Adelaide with a total of eleven charges relating to draft tampering and breaching the total player payments, including:- Arranging a secret deal in which Tippett would be traded to a club of his choice at the end of 2012
- Direct payments of $100,000 outside the salary cap in each of 2011 and 2012
- Illegally arranging third-party deals in 2011 and 2012, resulting in Tippett receiving further money outside the salary cap in those years.
The final hearing took place on 30 November, and Adelaide and Tippett pleaded guilty to all charges. Adelaide was stripped of its first and second round draft picks, and banned from taking any father-son selections, in the 2013 National Draft, and received a $300,000 fine. Tippett was suspended for the 2013 NAB Cup and 11 premiership matches, with a further suspended sentence of 11 matches, and received a $50,000 fine. Several senior Adelaide personnel were also punished by the league: chief executive Steven Trigg and former football manager John Reid were each fined $50,000 and banned from AFL functions for six months, and current football manager Phil Harper was banned from AFL functions for two months with a four-month suspended sentence. In a separate hearing in January 2013, the AFL Players' Association revoked the accreditation of Tippett's manager, Peter Blucher, for at least one year.
Melbourne Football Club tanking scandal
Throughout the 2012/13 offseason, the league investigated the Melbourne Football Club over allegations that it had tanked during the latter part of the 2009 season – that is, that it had intentionally lost matches near the end of the season so that it would finish with no more than four wins, and therefore receive a priority draft pick. The league released its findings in February 2013, and found the club not guilty of tanking.However, it did find two of Melbourne's then-senior staff members – senior coach Dean Bailey and general manager of football operations Chris Connolly – guilty of "acting in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the competition". This related most specifically to a meeting in July 2009, which became known colloquially as "the vault", in which Connolly allegedly openly discussed the potential benefits to the club of tanking. The guilty parties received the following penalties:
- Connolly, who was still at the club in 2013 but serving in a role outside the football department, was suspended outright from serving in any position at any club until 1 February 2014. Connolly was sacked by Melbourne in October 2013.
- Bailey, serving in 2013 as an assistant coach at the Adelaide Crows, was suspended from his position for the first sixteen weeks of the 2013 season, preventing him from having any contact with the Crows' playing group during that time.
- The Melbourne Football Club, which was complicit to the infraction in its capacity as Connolly's and Bailey's employer, was fined $500,000.
Essendon Football Club supplements controversy
On 5 February the Essendon Football Club asked the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority to investigate the concerns over the clubs possible use of un-approved supplements during the 2012 season.An internal independent review conducted by Dr. Ziggy Switkowski regarding the Essendon Football Club governance processes was released to the public on May 6.
While ASADA investigated the legality of the supplements, the AFL separately investigated the administration of the club's supplements program, and charged the club and senior staff with bringing the game into disrepute. The charges focussed on the poor business practices within the program, including allowing "a culture of frequent, uninformed and unregulated use of the injection of supplements" at the club, incomplete record keeping which had made it impossible to determine with certainty whether or not players had been administered banned supplements, and for failing to guarantee the health and safety of its players in its program. On 27 August, five days before round 23 and after two days of discussions between the club and the league, the following penalties were imposed relating to these charges:
- Essendon was fined $2 million ; this was the largest fine imposed on a club in the history of Australian sport.
- Essendon was ruled ineligible to participate in the 2013 AFL finals series, achieved by relegating it to ninth position on the ladder.
- Essendon was stripped of draft picks in the following two drafts: in 2013, its first and second round draft picks were stripped; in 2014, it was stripped of the first and second round draft picks it would have received based on its finishing position, but was granted the last draft pick in the first round.
- Senior coach James Hird was suspended from any involvement in any football club for twelve months, effective immediately.
- Football operations manager Danny Corcoran was suspended from involvement in any football club for four months, with a further two-month suspended sentence, effective 1 October 2013.
- Senior assistant coach Mark Thompson was fined $30,000.
- Club doctor Bruce Reid had contested his charge at a hearing from the AFL Commission, which was on Thursday 29 August, 10:30pm EST.
Adam Goodes–Eddie McGuire racism controversy
Late in the final quarter of the [|round 9] match between and, Adam Goodes became the target of racial abuse in which a 13-year-old Collingwood supporter called him an "ape". Goodes pointed the supporter out to security following the incident, who subsequently evicted her from the ground; after the match, Collingwood president Eddie McGuire visited the Swans' rooms to apologise "on behalf of football", and stamped out that racism would not be tolerated by the Collingwood Football Club.Five days later, McGuire was involved in another controversy involving Goodes on his Triple M Melbourne breakfast show, when he joked that Goodes could be used to promote the King Kong musical that was to be held in Melbourne, quickly apologising on air after making the reference. McGuire initially defended his comments by saying that the remark was simply "a slip of the tongue", but admitted to vilifying Goodes in an interview later in the day, albeit unintentionally.