2016 AFL season
The 2016 AFL season was the 120th 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.
| 2016 AFL premiership season | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 18 |
| Premiers | Western Bulldogs 2nd premiership |
| Minor premiers | Sydney 9th minor premiership |
| Brownlow Medallist | Patrick Dangerfield Geelong (35 votes) |
| Coleman Medallist | Josh Kennedy West Coast (80 goals) |
| Attendance | |
| Matches played | 207 |
| Total attendance | 6,870,241 (33,190 per match) |
| Highest (H&A) | 85,082 (round 5, Collingwood v Essendon) |
| Highest (finals) | 99,981 (Grand Final, Sydney vs. Western Bulldogs) |
The season featured eighteen clubs, ran from 24 March until 1 October, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs. Thirty-four players, seventeen of whom were still active in the league, missed the season through suspension by the World Anti-Doping Agency, for doping infringements which occurred at the Essendon Football Club as part of its 2012 sports supplements program.
The premiership was won by the Western Bulldogs for the second time, after it defeated Sydney by 22 points in the 2016 AFL Grand Final.