1992 AFL season

The 1992 AFL season was the 96th 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 fifteen clubs, ran from 21 March until 26 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top six clubs.

Prior to the season, the AFL ceased its role as the administrative body for football in Victoria after 95 years: this role was transferred, along with control of the reserves competition, to the newly established Victorian State Football League (VSFL). Subsequently, the Victorian AFL clubs' under-19s competition was dissolved, and zone-based recruiting was abolished.

The premiership was won by the West Coast Eagles, after it defeated Geelong by 28 points in the 1992 AFL Grand Final. It was West Coast's first premiership, and the first premiership won by a non-Victorian club following the league's interstate expansion.

Ladder

(P)	Premiers
	Qualified for finals

Template:Australian rules football ladder start |- style=background:#FFFFBB | 1 || align=left | Geelong || 22 || 16 || 6 || 0 || 3057 || 2099 || 145.6 || 64 |- style=background:#FFFFBB | 2 || align=left | Footscray || 22 || 16 || 6 || 0 || 2384 || 1836 || 129.8 || 64 |- style=background:#FFFFBB | 3 || align=left | Collingwood || 22 || 16 || 6 || 0 || 2195 || 1911 || 114.9 || 64 |- style=background:#FFFFBB | 4 || align=left | West Coast (P) || 22 || 15 || 6 || 1 || 2206 || 1752 || 125.9 || 62 |- style=background:#FFFFBB | 5 || align=left | Hawthorn || 22 || 14 || 8 || 0 || 2579 || 2098 || 122.9 || 56 |- style=background:#FFFFBB | 6 || align=left | Template:AFL || 22 || 14 || 8 || 0 || 2415 || 2009 || 120.2 || 56 |- | 7 || align=left | Carlton || 22 || 14 || 8 || 0 || 2362 || 2103 || 112.3 || 56 |- | 8 || align=left | Essendon || 22 || 12 || 10 || 0 || 2241 || 2414 || 92.8 || 48 |- | 9 || align=left | Adelaide || 22 || 11 || 11 || 0 || 2317 || 2286 || 101.4 || 44 |- | 10 || align=left | Fitzroy || 22 || 9 || 13 || 0 || 2166 || 2398 || 90.3 || 36 |- | 11 || align=left | Melbourne || 22 || 7 || 14 || 1 || 2083 || 2386 || 87.3 || 30 |- | 12 || align=left | Template:AFL NM || 22 || 7 || 15 || 0 || 2269 || 2535 || 89.5 || 28 |- | 13 || align=left | Richmond || 22 || 5 || 17 || 0 || 2160 || 2938 || 73.5 || 20 |- | 14 || align=left | Brisbane Bears || 22 || 4 || 17 || 1 || 1770 || 2742 || 64.6 || 18 |- | 15 || align=left | Sydney || 22 || 3 || 18 || 1 || 1997 || 2694 || 74.1 || 14 |}

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 103.6
Source: AFL Tables

Finals series

The AFL used a modified version of the McIntyre final six, after criticism of the original final six system. The difference to the original version was that First Semi-final would be contested between the loser of the qualifying final and the Elimination Final winner which had finished in a lower qualifying position on the ladder, while the second Semi-final would be contested between the winner of the qualifying final and the Elimination Final winner which had finished in a higher qualifying position on the ladder. This system would be retained for the following season before being replaced by the McIntyre final eight system.

Awards

• The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Scott Wynd of Footscray.
• The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Jason Dunstall of Hawthorn.
• The Coleman Medal was awarded to Jason Dunstall of Hawthorn.
• The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Peter Matera of West Coast.
• The Wooden Spoon was "awarded" to Sydney.

Notable events

• The minor grades and recruitment processes for Victorian clubs in the AFL competition underwent significant changes for the 1992 season:
  • Zone-based recruiting was abolished, firmly establishing the AFL Draft as the primary mechanism for player recruitment.
  • The AFL ceased its role as the administrative body for football in Victoria after 95 years, with the Victorian State Football League (VSFL) being established as a new administrative body to oversee football in Victoria.
  • The VSFL also took control of the AFL reserves competition: this change was only administrative, with the VSFL serving as a continuation of the AFL reserves (main: 1992 AFL reserves season).
  • The AFL Under-19s competition and the twelve competing AFL clubs under-19s teams were dissolved, being replaced by the VSFL's new Under-18s competition (later known as the TAC Cup and currently as the Coates Talent League) that featured six district-based clubs not affiliated with any AFL club.
• Geelong also set records for most points scored in a home-and-away season (3,057) and in all games (3,558), which have not been broken as of 2024. The Cats managed to score over 175 points in six different games.
• The round 9 match between the Brisbane Bears and Footscray on a rainy Sunday at Carrara saw only 3,059 attend. As of 2024, this is the lowest attendance at an VFL/AFL match not subject to crowd restrictions since the war-affected 1942 season.
• In Round 23, in torrential rain at the Western Oval, West Coast kicked only 0.2 (2) to three-quarter time. This is the lowest three-quarter time score since 1953.
• The first McIntyre "final six" system, which had operated in 1991, was replaced by the second McIntyre "final six" system. The second McIntyre "final six" system lasted two seasons; it was replaced by the McIntyre "final eight" system in 1994.
• The Round 20 match between St. Kilda and Fitzroy was the last senior AFL game to be played at Moorabbin Oval, which had been home to the Saints for twenty-eight seasons beginning in 1965. St. Kilda would play their home games at Waverley Park for the remainder of the 1990s before permanently moving to Docklands Stadium in 2000. St. Kilda's AFLW team has played its home games at Moorabbin since its 2019 formation.

See also

• second McIntyre "final six" system

Sources

• 1992 AFL season at AFL Tables
• 1992 AFL season at Australian Football