Stretched-out Footy 1897 to 2025

Preludes to Nothing

The boy’s hard at the ball at the ‘G

Stretched-out Footy 2025/26

12 Oct 2025

A text I put on our family get-together group online, Hassard Village, a couple of hours ago: Something footy, for anybody not Brisbane who still wants to win the flag this year [...] I plugged this year's finals results into it last night. Everyone 'thinks' the season is over, but in my world, we don't play the finals until every team has played every [other] team twice, the way it used to be."

11 Oct 2025

Real Time Season 2025 is done and dusted (Brisbane won the flag), and below is the Stretched-out Season 2025/26 Ladder as it stands at the end of Real Time Season 2025.

Team	Played	Points	%
Geelong	24	72	141.2%
Adelaide	23	72	139.3%
Fitzroy / Brisbane	23	66	114.3%
Gold Coast	24	64	123.9%
Collingwood	23	64	122.4%
Hawthorn	25	64	118.1%
Greater Western Sydney	24	64	113.5%
Fremantle	24	64	108.6%
Footscray / Bulldogs	23	56	137.0%
Sth Melb / Sydney	23	48	97.0%
Carlton	23	36	96.7%
St Kilda	23	36	88.5%
Port Adelaide	23	36	79.8%
Melbourne	23	28	93.3%
Essendon	23	24	69.5%
North Melbourne	23	22	76.3%
Richmond	23	20	66.0%
West Coast	23	4	60.1%

(You might even be able to guess how Stretched-out Footy is all about. Check out how many games each team has played so far in the ladder for Stretched-out Season 2025/26 above. Hint: All the games played in the Real Time 2025 Finals Series now become ordinary home and away games in Stretched-out Footy 2025/26. And which game in Real Time 2026 will end up being the Stretched-out Footy Grand Final for 2025/26? Well, what can I say. Coaches do tend to tell players to play every game like it's a grand final. Which! They don't, always, do they lol. Sometimes they tank. But still, Stretched-out Footy doesn't care  about that. Stretched-out footy cares about the data. And if you tank in real time footy, you may well suffer in Stretched-out Footy.)

How Stretched-out Footy Works (Using 2024/25 to Illustrate)

29 Aug 2025

The following is as far as we can go in Stretched-out Season 2024/25 up until today’s date, 29 Aug 2025. I've run out of games in real time, for the time being. To see how Stretched-out Season 2024/25 pans out in the long run, in other words, which team ends up Premiers for 2024/25, wait until 2026 in real time, until Geelong plays Sydney next and Collingwood plays Port Adelaide next. And then scroll all the way down towards the bottom of this page to the section called 'Stretched-out Footy Season 2024/25'. Who knows, by the time you come across this page, 'Stretched-out Footy Season 2025/26', 'Stretched-out Footy Season 2026/27' and so on might be available. By all means, scroll down to find out. But for now, let's just find out how Stretched-out Footy works. See what you think:

• In real-time footy, the home and away season for 2025 finished just last Wednesday, with Gold Coast thrashing Essendon. (That game was supposed to have been the first game of 2025, not the last game of the season. But Brisbane had a cyclone back in March.)
   
• In stretched-out footy, however, season 2024 is still going. Because in stretched-out footy, every team must play every other team TWICE before we play finals. And given the way the AFL cooks its footy fixtures, it takes two years (actually, a touch more than two years, most of the time) to play a full 'stretched-out' footy season.
  
  About that. Well, because of that, anyway. In stretched out-footy we don't even 'have' a season 2024. We call the season that STARTS in 2024, and which then goes for two years – a touch more, most of the time – ... 'Season 2024/25'.

And how's the ladder looking for Stretched-out Season 2024/25 here at the end of the Real-time 2025 Home and Away Series? Well, by now, the Stretched-out 2024/25 Home and Away Series is likewise done and dusted. 

Here comes who has made the Stretched-out 2024/25 Finals.

Team	Played	Points	%
Fitzroy / Brisbane	34	100	126.7%
Geelong	34	96	126.3%
Sth Melb / Sydney	34	92	118.3%
Greater Western Sydney	34	92	114.2%
Hawthorn	34	84	118.4%
Collingwood	34	84	109.3%
Port Adelaide	34	84	99.1%
Footscray / Bulldogs	34	80	130.8%

(See how every team has played 34 games? 18 teams, each playing 17 other teams twice, 17 x 2 = 34.)

And how is the Stretched-out Season 2024/25 Finals Series going? Well, one team has been eliminated so far. And that's the Bulldogs.

Qualifying Final 1*	Scores
Fitzroy / Brisbane	105
Greater Western Sydney	100

*In real time, this was the 2024 First Semi Final played on 14 Sep 2024 at the Sydney Showgrounds.

Qualifying Final 2**	Scores
Geelong
Sth Melb / Sydney

**So far in real-time, Geelong and Sydney have played each other only twice since the start of 2024. Port Adelaide has failed to make the finals in Real-time Season 2025. So, these two teams won't play each other again now until the first time they do in 2026. When they do, that game will be Qualifying Final 2 in Stretched-out Season 2024/25.

Elimination Final 1***	Scores
Hawthorn	81
Footscray / Bulldogs	59

***In real time, this was played in Round 13, 2025, at Marvel Stadium (Docklands, Melbourne).

Elimination Final 2****	Scores
Collingwood
Port Adelaide

****So far in real-time, Collingwood and Port Adelaide have played each other only twice since the start of 2024. Port Adelaide has failed to make the finals in Real-time Season 2025. So, these two teams won't play each other again now until the first time they do in 2026. When they do, that game will be Elimination Final 2 in Stretched-out Season 2024/25.

As I mentioned at the start of this section, this is as as far as we can go in Stretched-out Season 2024/25 up until today’s date, 29 Aug 2025. I've run out of games in real time, for the time being. So, for now, let’s have a look how 1897/98 to 2019/20 went in Stretched-out Footy. And then after that, scroll down further to check out the 2020s and beyond.

Stretched-out Footy, the 1890s (Geelong, 2 Flags)

16 Aug 2025

If you've figured out what I've done in the previous section, you might want to know how the 1890s shake out, if you re-run the 1890s except this time, once again, you make sure every team plays each other twice before the finals are played.

And they shake out as shown below. (I'm displaying the Grand Finals only. Displaying the ladder at the end of Home and Away Season and the entire Finals Series for each year would be Too Much Information.)

Era	Premier	Score	Runner Up	Score
1897/98*	Geelong	31	Essendon	24
1898/99	Fitzroy / Brisbane	22	Collingwood	11
1899/00	Geelong	57	Fitzroy / Brisbane	12

*You may recall that in the VFL in real time, Essendon was awarded the inaugural flag after a round-robin finals series. But here in Stretched-out Footy, between 1897 and 1971, we play a standard finals series between the top four teams the way those were played in almost all seasons in real time between 1897 and 1971.

Stretched-out Footy, the 1900s (Carlton, 4 Flags)

16 Aug 2025

Same again, except for the 1900s.

Era	Premier	Score	Runner Up	Score
1900/01	Geelong	44	Collingwood	31
1901/02	Essendon	43	Collingwood	16
1902/03	Collingwood	33	Essendon	25
1903/04	Collingwood	42	Fitzroy / Brisbane	33
1904/05	Fitzroy / Brisbane	61	Collingwood	50
1905/06	Fitzroy / Brisbane	80	Essendon	37
1906/07	Carlton	77	Fitzroy / Brisbane	25
1907/08	Carlton	91	St Kilda	35
1908/09	Carlton	50	Essendon	33
1909/10	Carlton	92	Essendon	56

 

Stretched-out Footy, the 1910s (Carlton, 3 Flags)

16 Aug2025

South Melbourne runners-up three years in a row from 1912 to 1914, I see. That’s stiff. But you can be stiff in Stretched-out Footy too. Even though it’s a fairer measure of Who’s Best, I think, than is the Real-time AFL in the modern era of rigged seasons, at least.

Era	Premier	Score	Runner Up	Score
1910/11	Collingwood	55	Sth Melb / Sydney	44
1911/12	Essendon	41	Collingwood	35
1912/13	Carlton	80	Sth Melb / Sydney	60
1913/14	St Kilda	84	Sth Melb / Sydney	51
1914/15	Carlton	45	Sth Melb / Sydney	39
1915/16	Carlton	54	Fitzroy / Brisbane	38
1916/17	Carlton	91	Richmond	41
1917/18	Collingwood	65	Carlton	30
1918/19	Sth Melb / Sydney	58	Carlton	53
1919/20	Richmond	74	Collingwood	45

 

Stretched-out Footy, the 1920s (Collingwood, 3 Flags)

16 Aug 2025

Something statistically bizarre happens in the 1920s. I could have run this app I’ve written to process Stretched-out Footy for a thousand years of real-time VFL/AFL games easily not see this happen.

Time to explain. A certain game played once upon a time in the real-time 1920s has ended up being Stretched-out Footy Grand Final for both 1927 'and' 1928. Now, emotionally this makes no sense, unless you’re a Pies fan. And yet, stats-wise, it DOES make sense, albeit in an unlikely way verging on the ridiculous. But not impossible. Because in real time, Collingwood and Melbourne played each other only once in 1927 and three times in 1928. And of the three times they played in 1928, one was an uncannily well-placed draw.

I’ll leave it at that. It was possible, and it happened.

Era	Premier	Score	Runner Up	Score
1920/21	Richmond	52	Collingwood	35
1921/22	Richmond	36	Carlton	32
1922/23	Fitzroy / Brisbane	68	Essendon	45
1923/24	Fitzroy / Brisbane	68	Essendon	61
1924/25	Essendon	65	Sth Melb / Sydney	57
1925/26	Geelong	79	Collingwood	69
1926/27	Collingwood	65	Geelong	49
1927/28	Collingwood	68	Melbourne	64
1928/29	Collingwood	68	Melbourne	64
1929/30	Richmond	123	Collingwood	61

 

Stretched-out Footy, the 1930s (Collingwood, 4 Flags)

16 Aug 2025

South Melbourne once again stiff, I see. This time between 1933 and 1936.

Era	Premier	Score	Runner Up	Score
1930/31	Collingwood	135	Carlton	74
1931/32	Geelong	68	Richmond	48
1932/33	Richmond	92	Carlton	83
1933/34	Richmond	108	Sth Melb / Sydney	64
1934/35	Sth Melb / Sydney	105	Richmond	59
1935/36	Collingwood	78	Sth Melb / Sydney	58
1936/37	Collingwood	140	Sth Melb / Sydney	85
1937/38	Collingwood	95	Geelong	90
1938/39	Collingwood	123	Carlton	84
1939/40	Melbourne	122	Richmond	99

 

Stretched-out Footy, the 1940s (Essendon, 3 Flags)

16 Aug 2025

 

Era	Premier	Score	Runner Up	Score
1940/41	Richmond	84	Carlton	83
1941/42	Essendon	135	Richmond	81
1942/43	Essendon	97	Richmond	84
1943/44	Richmond	97	Fitzroy / Brisbane	51
1944/45	Fitzroy / Brisbane	66	Richmond	51
1945/46	Carlton	117	Sth Melb / Sydney	109
1946/47	Essendon	85	Melbourne	75
1947/48	Carlton	86	Essendon	85
1948/49	Melbourne	89	Essendon	50
1949/50	North Melbourne	86	Essendon	71

 

Stretched-out Footy, the 1950s (Melbourne, 5 Flags)

16 Aug 2025

Collingwood stiff. Runners-up five years out of ten.

 

Era	Premier	Score	Runner Up	Score
1950/51	Essendon	92	North Melbourne	54
1951/52	Geelong	62	Collingwood	33
1952/53	Geelong	98	Collingwood	73
1953/54	Collingwood	77	Geelong	65
1954/55	Melbourne	111	Geelong	62
1955/56	Melbourne	64	Collingwood	36
1956/57	Melbourne	121	Collingwood	48
1957/58	Melbourne	78	Collingwood	33
1958/59	Melbourne	99	North Melbourne	44
1959/60	Essendon	78	Melbourne	65

 

Stretched-out Footy, the 1960s (Essendon, 3 Flags)

16 Aug 2025

Era	Premier	Score	Runner Up	Score
1960/61	Essendon	87	Melbourne	78
1961/62	Hawthorn	69	Essendon	52
1962/63	Essendon	90	Carlton	58
1963/64	Geelong	109	Hawthorn	60
1964/65	Melbourne	64	Collingwood	60
1965/66	Essendon	105	St Kilda	70
1966/67	Richmond	85	St Kilda	53
1967/68	Richmond	118	Carlton	72
1968/69	Carlton	56	Essendon	53
1969/70	Carlton	210	Hawthorn	82

 

Stretched out Footy, the 1970s (Hawthorn, 4 Flags)

16 Aug 2025

Remember above, in the 1890s, when I mentioned that between 1897 and 1971 in Stretched-out Footy, we play the finals as a Final 4? Well, in Stretched-out Footy, as it was in the VFL in real time, we switch to a Final 5, from 1972 to 1990. And we play that Final 5 in the standard way a final series was played in real-time between 1972 and 1990.

Era	Premier	Score	Runner Up	Score
1970/71	Hawthorn	96	Carlton	36
1971/72	Hawthorn	82	St Kilda	75
1972/73	Carlton	177	Richmond	150
1973/74	Richmond	116	Carlton	86
1974/75	Richmond	128	North Melbourne	87
1975/76	North Melbourne	122	Hawthorn	67
1976/77	Hawthorn	100	North Melbourne	70
1977/78	North Melbourne	151	Collingwood	124
1978/79	Hawthorn	121	North Melbourne	103
1979/80	Carlton	82	Collingwood	77

 

Peter Knights

Stretched-out Footy, the 1980s (Hawthorn, 3 Flags)

16 Aug 2025

Era	Premier	Score	Runner Up	Score
1980/81	Richmond	159	Collingwood	78
1981/82	Carlton	92	Collingwood	72
1982/83	Carlton	103	Richmond	85
1983/84	Hawthorn	140	Essendon	57
1984/85	Essendon	105	Hawthorn	81
1985/86	Essendon	170	Hawthorn	92
1986/87	Hawthorn	110	Carlton	68
1987/88	Melbourne	96	Carlton	66
1988/89	Hawthorn	135	Essendon	91
1989/90	Melbourne	116	Hawthorn	104

 

Stretched-out Footy, the 1990s (Essendon & Geelong, 3 Flags Each)

16 Aug 2025

In Stretched-out Footy, Brisbane Bears is a standalone team from 1986 to 1996 and Fitzroy becomes the Brisbane Lions in 1997. Brisbane Bears games in 1996/97 are excluded from Stretched-out Footy, because in 1996/97, Brisbane Bears failed to play every other team twice. Put another way, from 1996 onwards, Brisbane Bears played too few games to complete a full Stretched-out Footy 1996/97 Home and Away Series.

Also, remember above, in the 1970s, when I mentioned that a proper Stretched-out Footy Finals Series is one in which the top five teams play a finals series the standard way those were played between 1972 and 1990? Well, in Stretched-out Footy, as it was in the VFL in real time, we switch to a Final Six, come 1991 and then a Final 8, come 1994. And we will be playing those the standard way final series have been played in real-time since 1991.

Era	Premier	Score	Runner Up	Score
1990/91	West Coast	115	Essendon	52
1991/92	Hawthorn	152	St Kilda	74
1992/93	Geelong	124	Collingwood	96
1993/94	Essendon	133	Carlton	89
1994/95	Geelong	105	Carlton	72
1995/96	Geelong	98	Carlton	86
1996/97	North Melbourne	83	Essendon	64
1997/98	North Melbourne	105	Adelaide	92
1998/99	Essendon	80	Footscray / Bulldogs	76
1999/00	Essendon	165	Hawthorn	82

 

Stretched-out Footy, the 2000s (Brisbane, 3 Flags)

16 Aug 2025

That three-peat I see there by Brisbane mirrors what happened in real time. Fair enough too. What with all those draft picks.

Era	Premier	Score	Runner Up	Score
2000/01	Essendon	122	Hawthorn	57
2001/02	Fitzroy / Brisbane	129	Port Adelaide	72
2002/03	Fitzroy / Brisbane	138	Port Adelaide	82
2003/04	Fitzroy / Brisbane	100	Sth Melb / Sydney	56
2004/05	West Coast	84	St Kilda	66
2005/06	West Coast	93	Adelaide	77
2006/07	Geelong	182	West Coast	47
2007/08	Hawthorn	115	Geelong	89
2008/09	Geelong	80	St Kilda	68
2009/10	St Kilda	70	Geelong	46

 

Stretched-out Footy, the 2010s (Sydney, 2 Flags)

16 Aug 2025

Era	Premier	Score	Runner Up	Score
2010/11	Collingwood	120	Geelong	79
2011/12	Sth Melb / Sydney	106	Hawthorn	69
2012/13	North Melbourne	91	Sth Melb / Sydney	48
2013/14	Sth Melb / Sydney	107	Hawthorn	88
2014/15	Hawthorn	94	Fremantle	67
2015/16	Footscray / Bulldogs	89	Sth Melb / Sydney	67
2016/17	Geelong	103	Greater Western Sydney	59
2017/18	Greater Western Sydney	79	Richmond	77
2018/19	West Coast	98	Collingwood	76
2019/20	Fitzroy / Brisbane	85	Port Adelaide	48

 

Stretched-out Footy, the 2020s So Far (Melbourne, 2 Flags)

16 Aug 2025

A decade in progress.

Era	Premier	Score	Runner Up	Score
2020/21	Melbourne	81	Geelong	77
2021/22	Melbourne	125	Geelong	42
2022/23	Fitzroy / Brisbane	124	Collingwood	100
2023/24	Sth Melb / Sydney	89	Collingwood	86
2024/25	Season incomplete*	-	Season incomplete*	-
2025/26	Season incomplete*	-	Season incomplete*	-
2026/27	Season yet to commence*	-	Season yet to commence*	-
2027/28	Season yet to commence*	-	Season yet to commence*	-
2028/29	Season yet to commence*	-	Season yet to commence*	-
2029/30	Season yet to commence*	-	Season yet to commence*	-

 *Stay tuned. I'll pop back into this blog and update it, from time to time, as the real time footy seasons roll on through the years.

But while we wait, want some stats, as we go?

See what you make of the table below. The first column simply totals the results of all the Grand Finals is all the tables shown decade-by-decade above. I'll explain what the second and third columns are all about further below, but you can probably half guess already, from the column headings.

 

Team	Total Flags (Raw)	Total Flags (Weighted)	Total Flags (Apples with Apples)
West Coast	4	5	14
Essendon	17	17	13
Geelong	14	14	12
Hawthorn	11	12	12
Greater Western Sydney	1	1	12
Carlton	16	13	10
Melbourne	12	13	10
Collingwood	14	12	10
Richmond	13	12	10
Fitzroy / Brisbane	11	11	9
North Melbourne	6	7	7
Sth Melb / Sydney	5	6	5
St Kilda	2	2	2
Footscray / Bulldogs	1	1	1
Adelaide	0	0	0
Fremantle	0	0	0
Gold Coast	0	0	0
Port Adelaide	0	0	0

 

OK, continuing on. The SECOND column is the number of EFFECTIVE (weighted*) flags each team has won.

*To weight flags, we consider how many teams a flag-winner defeats to win that flag. And to do that, we define a “full” flag as one you win against 17 other teams. To illustrate, Collingwood won the flag in Stretched-out Footy 2018/19 and defeated 17 other teams to do so. So, that flag is worth 1 / 17 x 17 =1. But the Stretched-out Footy Flags Collingwood won before 1908 were won against only 7 other teams and are worth only 1 / 17 x 7 = 0.4. And the Stretched-out Footy Flag they won in 1917, which because of the war was against only 5 other teams, is worth only 1 / 17 x 5 = 0.3.

But wait! Even this second column is not very fair, in terms of which team is the GOAT. Because GWS, for example, won its single flag in the table above inside a single decade and Essendon, for example, has taken more than 120 seasons to win its 17 flags.

So, we need to go a step further in the weighting game. We need to further weight each team’s flags against the number of seasons that each team has played.

Voila, Column 3.

North finds itself everywhere except on John Coleman

Stretched-out Footy 2024/25

11 Oct 2025

As I type, Real Time Season 2025 is done and dusted and Brisbane won the flag. Thrashed Geelong. I'd tipped Geelong to thrash Brisbane, so there you go: I spent so much time this year following the footy and a chicken would've done a better job predicting who would win that game.

That said, let's see how Stretched-out Season 2024/25 is panning out. Firstly, here's who has made the Stretched-out 2024/25 Finals.

Team	Played	Points	%
Fitzroy / Brisbane	34	100	126.7%
Geelong	34	96	126.3%
Sth Melb / Sydney	34	92	118.3%
Greater Western Sydney	34	92	114.2%
Hawthorn	34	84	118.4%
Collingwood	34	84	109.3%
Port Adelaide	34	84	99.1%
Footscray / Bulldogs	34	80	130.8%

(See how every team has played 34 games? 18 teams, each playing 17 other teams twice, 17 x 2 = 34.)

And now, here is how the Stretched-out Season 2024/25 Finals Series is going. One team has been eliminated so far. And that's the Bulldogs.

Qualifying Final 1*	Scores
Fitzroy / Brisbane	105
Greater Western Sydney	100

*In real time, this was the 2024 First Semi Final played on 14 Sep 2024 at the Sydney Showgrounds.

Qualifying Final 2**	Scores
Geelong
Sth Melb / Sydney

**So far in real-time, Geelong and Sydney have played each other only twice since the start of 2024. Port Adelaide has failed to make the finals in Real-time Season 2025. So, these two teams won't play each other again now until the first time they do in 2026. When they do, that game will be Qualifying Final 2 in Stretched-out Season 2024/25.

Elimination Final 1***	Scores
Hawthorn	81
Footscray / Bulldogs	59

***In real time, this was played in Round 13, 2025, at Marvel Stadium (Docklands, Melbourne).

Elimination Final 2****	Scores
Collingwood
Port Adelaide

****So far in real-time, Collingwood and Port Adelaide have played each other only twice since the start of 2024. Port Adelaide has failed to make the finals in Real-time Season 2025. So, these two teams won't play each other again now until the first time they do in 2026. When they do, that game will be Elimination Final 2 in Stretched-out Season 2024/25.

And that's as far as we can go for now. We have run out of real-time games to process. Come back to this page in 2026 when a few more real-time games have been played and you will see who wins the flag.

Stretched-out Footy 2025/26

11 Oct 2025

As I type, Real Time Season 2025 is done and dusted. Let's see how Stretched-out Season 2025/26 is panning out. As follows.

Team	Played	Points	%
Geelong	24	72	141.2%
Adelaide	23	72	139.3%
Fitzroy / Brisbane	23	66	114.3%
Gold Coast	24	64	123.9%
Collingwood	23	64	122.4%
Hawthorn	25	64	118.1%
Greater Western Sydney	24	64	113.5%
Fremantle	24	64	108.6%
Footscray / Bulldogs	23	56	137.0%
Sth Melb / Sydney	23	48	97.0%
Carlton	23	36	96.7%
St Kilda	23	36	88.5%
Port Adelaide	23	36	79.8%
Melbourne	23	28	93.3%
Essendon	23	24	69.5%
North Melbourne	23	22	76.3%
Richmond	23	20	66.0%
West Coast	23	4	60.1%

And that's as far as we can go for now. We have run out of real-time games to process. Come back to this page in 2026 when a few more real-time games have been played.