2023 AFL finals series

2023 premiership season
2023 premiership season
Date	7 September – 30 September
Teams	8
	← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 Australian Football League finals series will be the 127th annual edition of the VFL/AFL finals series, the Australian rules football playoff tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2023 AFL premiership season. The series is scheduled to be played over 4 weeks in September, culminating in the 2023 AFL Grand Final.

The top eight teams from the 2023 AFL Premiership season qualify for the finals series. AFL finals series have been played under the current format since 2000.

Qualification

In round 23 of the 2023 AFL season, Melbourne's win over Hawthorn confirmed Collingwood, Brisbane Lions, Port Adelaide and Melbourne as the top 4, while Carlton sealed a finals appearance with a win over Gold Coast. The Western Bulldogs' shock loss to last-placed West Coast confirmed finals for St Kilda and Sydney.

Ladder

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PP	Pts	Qualification
1	Collingwood (P)	23	18	5	0	2142	1687	127.0	72	Finals series
2	Brisbane Lions	23	17	6	0	2180	1771	123.1	68
3	Port Adelaide	23	17	6	0	2149	1906	112.7	68
4	Melbourne	23	16	7	0	2079	1660	125.2	64
5	Carlton	23	13	9	1	1922	1697	113.3	54
6	St Kilda	23	13	10	0	1775	1647	107.8	52
7	Greater Western Sydney	23	13	10	0	2018	1885	107.1	52
8	Sydney	23	12	10	1	2050	1863	110.0	50
9	Western Bulldogs	23	12	11	0	1919	1766	108.7	48
10	Adelaide	23	11	12	0	2193	1877	116.8	44
11	Essendon	23	11	12	0	1838	2050	89.7	44
12	Geelong	23	10	12	1	2088	1855	112.6	42
13	Richmond	23	10	12	1	1856	1983	93.6	42
14	Fremantle	23	10	13	0	1835	1898	96.7	40
15	Gold Coast	23	9	14	0	1839	2006	91.7	36
16	Hawthorn	23	7	16	0	1686	2101	80.2	28
17	North Melbourne	23	3	20	0	1657	2318	71.5	12
18	West Coast	23	3	20	0	1418	2674	53.0	12

Source: afl.com.au
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for
(P) Premiers

Season notes

After winning the premiership the previous season, Geelong missed finals for only the second time since 2006.
Carlton reached the finals for the first time since 2013.

Venues

The venues of the 2023 AFL finals series are yet to be confirmed by the AFL.

Adelaide
Melbourne	Brisbane Adelaide Melbourne	Brisbane
Melbourne Cricket Ground		The Gabba
Capacity: 100,024		Capacity: 36,700

Adelaide Oval Capacity: 60,000

Matches

The system used for the 2023 AFL finals series is a final eight system. The top four teams in the eight receive the "double chance" when they play in week-one qualifying finals, such that if a top-four team loses in the first week it still remains in the finals, playing a semi-final the next week against the winner of an elimination final. The bottom four of the eight play knock-out games – only the winners survive and move on to the next week. Home-state advantage goes to the team with the higher ladder position in the first two weeks, and to the qualifying final winners in the third week.

In the second week, the winners of the qualifying finals receive a bye to the third week. The losers of the qualifying final plays the elimination finals winners in a semi-final. In the third week, the winners of the semi-finals from week two play the winners of the qualifying finals in the first week. The winners of those matches move on to the Grand Final. ^[1]

Qualifying and elimination finals

Semi-finals

Preliminary finals

Grand final

First qualifying final: Sep 7–9, MCG

1

Collingwood

4

Melbourne

First semi-final: Sep 15–16, MCG

First elimination final: Sep 7–9, MCG

First preliminary final: Sep 22–23, MCG

5

Carlton

8

Sydney

2023 AFL Grand Final: Sep 30, MCG

Second elimination final: Sep 7–9, MCG

Second preliminary final: Sep 22–23

6

St Kilda

7

Greater Western Sydney

Second semi-final: Sep 15–16

Second qualifying final: Sep 7–9, Gabba

2

Brisbane Lions

3

Port Adelaide

Week one (qualifying and elimination finals)

First qualifying final (Collingwood vs Melbourne)

The first qualifying final will see first-placed Collingwood face fourth-placed Melbourne, the twenty-third final between the two sides and the first since the 1989 elimintation final.

Scorecard


	First qualifying final
7–9 September	Collingwood	v	Melbourne	MCG
		Q1 Q2 Q3 Final		Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)

Second qualifying final (Brisbane Lions vs Port Adelaide)

The second qualifying final will see second-placing Brisbane face third-placing Port Adelaide, the fourth final between the two sides and the first since the 2004 AFL Grand Final. The Lions and Power also previously met in the 2001 qualifying final and the 2002 preliminary final.

Scorecard


	Second qualifying final
7–9 September	Brisbane Lions	v	Port Adelaide	The Gabba
		Q1 Q2 Q3 Final		Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)

First elimination final (Carlton vs Sydney)

Scorecard


	First elimination final
7–9 September	Carlton	v	Sydney	MCG
		Q1 Q2 Q3 Final		Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)

Second elimination final (St Kilda vs Greater Western Sydney)

Scorecard


	Second elimination final
7–9 September	St Kilda	v	Greater Western Sydney	Marvel Stadium or MCG
		Q1 Q2 Q3 Final		Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)

Week two (semi-finals)

First semi-final (TBD vs TBD)

Scorecard


First semi-final
Collingwood/Melbourne	v	Carlton/Sydney	MCG
	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final		Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)

Second semi-final (TBD vs TBD)

Scorecard


Second semi-final
Brisbane Lions/Port Adelaide	v	St Kilda/Greater Western Sydney	The Gabba or Adelaide Oval
	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final		Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)

Week three (preliminary finals)

First preliminary final (TBD vs TBD)

Scorecard


First preliminary final
	v	MCG
	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)

Second preliminary final (TBD vs TBD)

Scorecard


Second preliminary final
	v
	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	Television broadcast: Seven Network, Fox Footy (simulcast)

Week four (Grand Final)


	Grand Final
Saturday, 30 September (2:30 pm)		v	MCG
		Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	Norm Smith Medal: Television broadcast: Seven Network

References

^ Hutchinson, Col; Rodgers, Stephen (1 August 2010). "The final 8 system explained". Australian Football League. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.

External links

AFL finals series official website

[1] Hutchinson, Col; Rodgers, Stephen (1 August 2010). "The final 8 system explained". Australian Football League. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.

[1]

v t e 2023 AFL season
Events	Pre-season matches Premiership season Finals series Grand Final
Awards	22under22 team AFL Players Association awards All-Australian team Brownlow Medal Coleman Medal Goal of the Year Leigh Matthews Trophy Mark of the Year Norm Smith Medal Rising Star
Club overviews	Adelaide Brisbane Lions Carlton Collingwood Essendon Fremantle Geelong Gold Coast Greater Western Sydney Hawthorn Melbourne North Melbourne Port Adelaide Richmond St Kilda Sydney West Coast Western Bulldogs
Player changes	Trades National draft Mid-season draft Rookie draft Debuts Retirements and delistings
See also	Gather Round 2023 AFL Women's season 2023 in Australian rules football