Australian rules football has always celebrated the goal kicker, the free-flowing forward line, and the team that can put the ball through the big sticks with mechanical consistency. But occasionally, across the long arc of VFL and AFL history, two teams have collided in conditions that allowed scoring to cascade beyond anything resembling the norm. These games stand apart from ordinary matches and are monuments to an era when defensive structures less complex. Midfields simply tried to move the ball forward as quickly as possible, and when scoreboard operators had to stay sharp. Here are the five highest-scoring games in VFL/AFL history, ranked by aggregate total points.
Here is the top 5 highest scoring VFL/AFL games in history where both teams combined for a huge score. This isn’t necessarily the highest team score or the biggest winning margins in AFL History.
North Melbourne 35.19 (229) def Sydney 16.9 (105)
By the time Round 6 of the 1993 AFL season arrived, no one could have anticipated witnessing a demolition of such extraordinary scale. North Melbourne, playing at home and boasting a forward line of rare firepower, dismantled the Sydney Swans in one of the most lopsided thrashings in football history. The final score was North Melbourne 35.19 (229) defeating Sydney 16.9 (105), producing an aggregate of 334 points. The winning margin was 124 points.
The star of the match was Adrian McAdam, who was playing only his second AFL game when he booted 10 goals. Not to be outdone, John Longmire kicked 9. Wayne Carey, who would go on to become one of the greatest forwards the game has ever seen, contributed 3 goals along with 26 disposals and 8 marks. It was a masterclass from a North Melbourne team brimming with talent and confidence. Anthony Rock gathered 28 touches through the midfield.
North Melbourne kicked 11 goals in the first quarter and 10 each in the third and final quarters, signalling from the opening bounce that this would be no ordinary day at the football. Remarkably, Sydney’s score of 105 points would be considered competitive in today’s game, yet it was enough only to contribute to the losing side of a 124-point margin. Dale Lewis managed to snag 5 goals for the losing side. The contrast between what constituted a solid score then and what wins modern games tells its own story about how much the game has changed.
Hawthorn 26.15 (171) def Geelong 25.13 (163)
Tied on aggregate with game five, this extraordinary encounter holds a special place in football folklore not just because of its scoreline but because of the comeback that produced it. Hawthorn and Geelong met at Princes Park in Round 6 of 1989 in a match that was already heading toward 334 combined points before the final siren. The Hawks won by just eight points, 171 to 163.
What makes this game truly remarkable is the half time position. At the long break, Hawthorn trailed significantly, with Geelong having kicked brilliantly in the first half. The Hawks were behind by a distance that most teams do not recover from. But what followed in the second half became one of the legendary passages of play in VFL history. Inspired by captain Gary Ayres bursting from the centre, Hawthorn kicked 17 goals to 8 in the second half to win the game by eight points. Geelong, for their part, kicked six goals in the last quarter alone, yet it was not enough.
Geelong forward Gavin Exell kicked a career best 9 goals, while Dermott Brereton and Gary Buckenara booted 5 each for the Hawks, while Jason Dunstall kicked 4 goals. Mark Bairstow had a game high 35 touches with Gary Ayres having 30 disposals.
Both teams finished with staggering totals. The Geelong of 1989, coached by Malcolm Blight in his first season, was playing electrifying attacking football. The club scored a combined total of 2916 points during that home-and-away season, breaking Sydney’s record set just two years earlier. This game encapsulated that Geelong season perfectly. It also stood as proof that 163 points is sometimes not enough to win a football match.
The two teams met in the decider later that season, which is remembered as one of the best Grand Finals of all time, another high scoring contest with the Hawks winning 144 to 138. Gary Ablett won the Norm Smith kicking 9 goals in a losing side.
Geelong 35.18 (228) def St Kilda 16.13 (109)
Just a week after their thriller with Hawthorn, Geelong produced a score of 228 points against St Kilda at Kardinia Park in Round 7 of 1989. This remains Geelong’s highest-ever score against St Kilda, and the Cats piled on 35 goals in a performance of extraordinary attacking dominance. The aggregate total was 337 points, making it the equal second-highest-scoring game in VFL/AFL history. St Kilda, for their part, managed a genuinely respectable 109 points, yet were beaten by 119.
Gavin Exell popped up again snagging 8 majors with Billy Brownless booting 5 and Gary Ablett kicking 4. Superstar full forward Tony Lockett kicked 6 goals for the losing side.
Mark Bairstow found a ton of the Sherrin again racking up 41 disposals while Paul Couch also had 40.
The peculiar distinction this match holds is one of statistical cruelty. St Kilda holds the record of being the only opponent to score a century in a match and still lose by a century. To score more than 100 points in any era of the game represents a solid afternoon’s work. To then lose by more than 100 despite that effort is a fate shared by no other club in VFL/AFL history.
The 1989 Geelong side was an attacking juggernaut. Gary Ablett, who would finish the season as the club’s leading goalkicker with 87 goals, was in top form. The Cats’ ability to move the ball swiftly through their midfield and into their forward line created havoc for opponents week after week. That season they finished third on the ladder before going all the way to the Grand Final, where they fell just short against Hawthorn in a six-point thriller.
Richmond 29.14 (188) def Hawthorn 21.23 (149)
Sharing the equal second spot on the all-time list is this explosive encounter from Round 5 of 1985, played at Princes Park. Richmond defeated Hawthorn by 39 points, with the Tigers posting an imposing 29.14 (188). Hawthorn, despite accumulating 149 points, could not keep pace. The aggregate of 337 points matched the Geelong-St Kilda game four years later.
The individual performance that defined the day came from Richmond’s Michael Roach, who kicked 11 goals for the Tigers. Roach was one of the great forward pocket players of his era, and his tally of 11 stands as Richmond’s highest individual goal count against Hawthorn. Dermott Brereton kicked 6 goals, the best for the Hawks.
The game was a showcase of the hard, attacking football that marked the mid-1980s competition, an era when Hawthorn and Richmond were fierce rivals meeting regularly in finals.
What makes the scoreline particularly striking is Hawthorn’s behind count: 23 behinds alongside 21 goals. Had the Hawks been more accurate, they may well have won the game. Instead, accuracy deserted them while Richmond were clinical, and the resulting scoreline became one of the most extraordinary in football history.
St Kilda 31.18 (204) def Melbourne 21.15 (141)
The highest-scoring game in VFL/AFL history took place on 6 May 1978 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, when St Kilda defeated Melbourne by 63 points in Round 6 of the VFL season. The Saints posted a remarkable 31.18 (204) to Melbourne’s 21.15 (141), producing an all-time record aggregate of 345 points. Between them, the two clubs kicked 52 goals. This is one of only two games in VFL/AFL history where the combined goal tally reached that figure.
The game featured a dramatic swing in momentum. From the 26-minute mark of the first quarter, St Kilda piled on 14 consecutive goals as Melbourne seemingly fell apart. The Saints had been blistering early in the season before losing form, while Melbourne had endured a difficult year. What neither side’s supporters could have expected was that the result would etch both clubs permanently into the record books.
George Young kicked 7 goals for St Kilda to lead the scoring. Melbourne’s Robert Flower, Greg Wells and Barry Denny were named among the best on ground for the Demons in a losing side. Despite being down 73 points at the break, Melbourne actually won the third quarter and trimmed the margin to 53 points before eventually going down by 63. That the losing side scored 141 points and still lost by 63 remains one of the more jaw-dropping footnotes in the game’s history.
An attendance of 24,852 witnessed the spectacle at the MCG. The 1978 VFL season was eventually won by Hawthorn, and both teams involved in this record-setting game had mixed seasons, with St Kilda finishing just outside the 5 and Demons getting the wooden spoon. But for those 24,852 people who turned up on that autumn Saturday afternoon, they watched something that no subsequent generation of football fans has ever surpassed.
These five games share a common thread: they belong predominantly to a 15-year window of competition history spanning roughly the late 1970s through the early 1990s. The era is not coincidental. Defensive structures were far less sophisticated, zone defences were far less common, and teams generally played an open style that allowed forward lines to run riot. The game saw more long kicking and players played one on one.
Modern AFL football, with its structured zone defence, high-press systems, and sophisticated coaching methods, makes aggregates of 330-plus extremely unlikely. The highest-scoring games in recent decades fall well short of these records. Whether that represents progress or the loss of something thrilling depends on who you ask.
The records they produced have stood for decades, and in the current football environment, it is difficult to imagine them falling any time soon.
