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.
The premiership was won by the Hawthorn Football Club for the 13th time and third time consecutively, after it defeated by 46 points in the 2015 AFL Grand Final.
The season was marred by the mid-season death of senior coach Phil Walsh, who was the victim of a domestic incident. Adelaide's following match was cancelled.
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. was the All Stars' opponent, and the match was played at Medibank Stadium in Perth.
NAB Challenge The pre-season series of matches, known as the 2015 NAB Challenge, featured 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. 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 nine-point super goal was used in 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. 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. 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. This was repeated in round 23, with no twilight game on the Sunday. 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 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 secured the minor premiership for the first time in its history. and 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. missed the finals for the first time since 2006. was the first minor premier to fail to reach the Grand Final since in 2005. became the first team in history to finish the home-and-away season in eighth position and qualify for a preliminary final. 's score of 27.11 (173) against in round 17 was the highest score posted by any side, while 's score of 4.6 (30) against in round 23 was the lowest. Matt Priddis () 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. Todd Goldstein () 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 (), who had 998 hit-outs for the season, also passed Dempsey's old record.
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 LadderXGeelCXX7XXXXX17XXXXX18XXXXX12XXXXX15XXX1XAdelCXXXX10XXXXX16XXXXX11X3XXXXX13XX8XXXXX9XXXX5XXXXX14XXX4XX2XXXX6 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 C – Cancelled Opponent for round listed above margin
Ladder
Ladder progression
Finals series
Week one
Week two
Week three
Week four
Attendances
By club + 2015 AFL attendances Club Total Games Avg. Per Game Home Total Home Games Home Avg. 2310 2211 2211 2211 2211 2411 2111 2211 2211 2611 2211 2511 2211 2311 2211 2411 2511 2311
By ground + 2015 ground attendances Ground Total Games Avg. Per Game Adelaide Oval21 ANZ Stadium4 Aurora Stadium4 Blundstone Arena3 Cazaly's Stadium1 Domain Stadium26 Etihad Stadium46 Gabba11 MCG50 Metricon Stadium11 SCG8 Simonds Stadium8 Spotless Stadium8 StarTrack Oval3 TIO Stadium1 TIO Traeger Park1 Westpac Stadium1
Awards The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Nat Fyfe of , who received 31 votes. The Coleman Medal was awarded to Josh Kennedy of , who kicked 75 goals during the home and away season. The Ron Evans Medal was awarded to Jesse Hogan of , who received 49 votes. The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Cyril Rioli of . The AFL Goal of the Year was awarded to Eddie Betts of . The AFL Mark of the Year was awarded to Nic Naitanui of . The McClelland Trophy was awarded to for the first time in their history. The wooden spoon was "awarded" to for the first time since 2006. The AFL Players Association awards The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Nat Fyfe of for the second consecutive year. The Robert Rose Award was awarded to Luke Parker of . The Best Captain was awarded to Robert Murphy of the . The Best First-Year Player was awarded to Isaac Heeney of . The 22under22 Team captaincy was awarded to Jake Stringer of the . The AFL Coaches Association Awards The AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year Award was awarded to Dan Hannebery of , who received 101 votes. The Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year Award was awarded to Luke Beveridge of the . The Assistant Coach of the Year Award was awarded to Adam Kingsley of . The Development Coach of the Year Award was awarded to Paul Hudson of . The Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to David Wheadon. The Best Young Player Award was awarded to Marcus Bontempelli of the . 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 .
Milestones
Name Club Milestone Round
Coleman Medal
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the Coleman that round. Underlined numbers indicates the player did not play that round. Player1234567891011121314151617181920212223Total1Josh J. Kennedy221012113316622123427431637340343346046248250353356258462264771172375752Jeremy Cameron441527411112719524226329332234135035237542244044246248351354761263633Eddie Betts441516410515520626329231132032133235035237138341142244549352254458584Taylor Walker6628311112214418321425025126026127229029332335237239241344751354155555Jake Stringer332505611112416016218018220020525025328230131132436440444549150454546Chad Wingard221314152729110212214317421526026329332335338442244347451253053537Jack Gunston11342639413215116117219322022022325227027431637340040141344448452528Josh Bruce226821021251711852322512622812902933253723914014114214324534804825050Jack Riewoldt44264100103133164204241252270271286342363392411421431442462480482505010Lance Franklin333651121331601642002072733043403423603633934204234504504504514614747
Best and fairest Club Award name PlayerRef. Malcolm Blight Medal Merrett–Murray Medal John Nicholls Medal Copeland Trophy Crichton Medal Doig Medal Carji Greeves Medal Club Champion Kevin Sheedy Medal Peter Crimmins Medal Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal Syd Barker Medal John Cahill Medal Jack Dyer Medal Trevor Barker Award Bob Skilton Medal John Worsfold Medal Charles Sutton Medal
Club leadership Club Coach Captain(s) Vice-captain(s) Leadership group Phil Walsh (Rds 1–13);Scott Camporeale (Rds 15–SF) Taylor Walker Patrick Dangerfield, Rory Sloane, Daniel Talia, Scott Thompson, Nathan van Berlo Justin Leppitsch Tom Rockliff Pearce Hanley, Daniel Rich, Dayne Zorko Mick Malthouse (Rds 1–8);John Barker (Rds 9–23) Marc Murphy Bryce Gibbs, Michael Jamison Lachie Henderson, Sam Rowe Nathan Buckley Scott Pendlebury Nathan Brown, Travis Cloke, Tyson Goldsack, Steele Sidebottom James Hird (Rds 1–20);Matthew Egan (Rds 21–23) Jobe Watson Paul Chapman, Brendon Goddard, Dyson Heppell, Cale Hooker, David Myers, Brent Stanton, David Zaharakis Ross Lyon Matthew Pavlich Nat Fyfe, Luke McPharlin, David Mundy, Aaron Sandilands, Lee Spurr Chris Scott Joel Selwood Harry Taylor Corey Enright, Tom Hawkins, Andrew Mackie Rodney Eade Gary Ablett Tom Lynch, Nick Malceski, Dion Prestia, Michael Rischitelli, David Swallow Leon Cameron Phil Davis Callan Ward Tom Scully, Heath Shaw Shane Mumford Alastair Clarkson Luke Hodge Jarryd Roughead, Jordan Lewis Paul Roos Nathan Jones Lynden Dunn Daniel Cross, Chris Dawes, Jack Grimes, Heritier Lumumba Brad Scott Andrew SwallowJack Ziebell, Drew Petrie Nick Dal Santo, Sam Gibson, Jamie Macmillan, Drew Petrie, Scott Thompson, Jack Ziebell Ken Hinkley Travis Boak Brad Ebert, Matthew Lobbe Hamish Hartlett, Tom Jonas, Jackson Trengove, Ollie Wines Damien Hardwick Trent Cotchin Brett Deledio, Ivan Maric Troy Chaplin, Steven Morris Alan Richardson Nick Riewoldt David Armitage, Sean Dempster, Jarryn Geary, Leigh Montagna, Jack Newnes, Maverick Weller John Longmire Kieren Jack Jarrad McVeigh Adam Goodes, Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker, Rhyce Shaw, Nick Smith Adam Simpson Shannon Hurn Josh Kennedy, Scott Selwood Eric Mackenzie, Matt Priddis, Beau Waters Luke Beveridge Robert Murphy Jordan Roughead Matthew Boyd, Tom Liberatore, Dale Morris
Coach changes
Coach Club Date Notes Caretaker New coach 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. John Barker Brendon Bolton Deceased Scott Camporeale Don Pyke Resigned due to poor on-field performances Matthew Egan John Worsfold
Club financials + 2015 AFL membership figures Club Members Change from 2014 % Change from 2014 52,920 25,408 47,305 75,037 60,818 51,433 44,312 13,643 13,480 72,924 35,953 41,012 54,057 70,809 32,746 48,836 60,221 35,222 Total 836,136 31,656 3.93%
Post-season
International Rules Series
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.
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: