The 2010 Australian Football League season commenced on 25 March 2010 and concluded on 2 October 2010. It was the 114th season of the VFL/AFL competition. The premiership was won by Collingwood, who defeated St Kilda by 56 points in the Grand Final Replay, which was played after the first Grand Final was drawn. Collingwood's win marked the 15th VFL/AFL premiership in the club's history.
This season was the final AFL season to be played with sixteen teams, with the addition of clubs from the Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney in 2011 and 2012 respectively resulting in an expansion of the league.
The draw for the 2010 AFL Premiership Season was produced by the AFL with the intention of producing a balanced draw while also providing the fans and television networks with blockbuster games. In a competition with 16 teams and 22 rounds, it is not possible for all teams to play each other twice. These factors combine to create some of the following anomalies:
six of the teams played each other for the first time in round 21;
of the Victorian-based teams St Kilda played six games interstate while Essendon travelled only three times;
of the six games Fremantle played in Melbourne, none were at the MCG, while defending premiers Geelong played seven games at the MCG despite not being one of the tenants at this ground;
North Melbourne and Port Adelaide played only two of 2009's top eight teams twice, while Essendon and Collingwood played five of these teams twice.
Bold – Home game
Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round.
Biggest margin: 116 points – Hawthorn, 24.11 (155) vs Fremantle 5.9 (39), Aurora Stadium, Round 21
Smallest margin (excluding draws): 1 point –
Collingwood, 12.14 (86) vs Melbourne 12.13 (85), MCG, Round 2
Port Adelaide, 8.13 (61) vs West Coast 8.12 (60), AAMI Stadium, Round 20
Drawn Games:
Melbourne 11.10 (76) vs Collingwood 9.22 (76), MCG, Round 12
St Kilda 14.3 (87) vs Hawthorn 13.9 (87), Etihad Stadium, Round 17
Collingwood 9.14 (68) vs St Kilda 10.8 (68), MCG, Grand Final
Highest Score: 24.18 (162) – Collingwood, Essendon 10.4 (64) vs 24.18 (162), MCG, Round 20
Highest Aggregate Score: 40.17 (257) – Carlton 16.6 (102) vs Collingwood 24.11 (155), MCG, Round 6
Lowest Score: 3.12 (30) – Port Adelaide, 3.12 (30) vs Richmond 10.17 (77), AAMI Stadium, Round 10
Lowest Aggregate Score: 13.17 (95) – Western Bulldogs 6.10 (46) vs St Kilda 7.7 (49), Etihad Stadium, Round 6
Longest Winning Streak: 9 games – Collingwood, Rounds 13–21
Longest Losing Streak: 9 games –
Richmond, Rounds 1–9
Port Adelaide, Rounds 8–16
Most goals kicked by a player in a match: 12.2 (74) – Mark LeCras (West Coast), Final score: Essendon 14.16 (100) vs 20.12 (132), Etihad Stadium, Round 16
The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Chris Judd of Carlton who received 30 votes.
The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Lenny Hayes of St Kilda for the drawn Grand Final. Scott Pendlebury was awarded the second medal in the Replay.
The AFL Rising Star was awarded to Dan Hannebery of Sydney, who received the maximum number of votes (45).
The Coleman Medal was awarded to Jack Riewoldt of Richmond, who kicked 78 goals during the home and away season.
The Wooden Spoon was "awarded" to the West Coast Eagles.
The McClelland Trophy was awarded to Collingwood.
The AFL Players Association awards were as follows:
The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Dane Swan of Collingwood, for being the Most Valuable Player throughout the premiership season.
The Robert Rose Award went to Luke Hodge of Hawthorn, for being the Most Courageous Player throughout the premiership season.
The Best Captain award went to Brett Kirk of Sydney, in his final season.
The best first year player award was won by Michael Barlow of Fremantle, despite only playing 13 games for the season.
The AFL Rising Star is awarded to the best player who, as of the beginning of the season, is under the age of 21 and has played fewer than 10 games. Each week one player is nominated and at the end of the season a selection panel votes to select the overall winner.
Sydney's Dan Hannebery won the award for 2010, with the maximum 45 votes awarded to him.
Nominations
Round 1 – Chris Yarran (Carlton)
Round 2 – Dan Hannebery (Sydney)
Round 3 – Ryan Bastinac (North Melbourne)
Round 4 – Nic Naitanui (West Coast)
Round 5 – Jack Trengove (Melbourne)
Round 6 – Todd Banfield (Brisbane)
Round 7 – Tom Scully (Melbourne)
Round 8 – Jake Melksham (Essendon)
Round 9 – Nathan Fyfe (Fremantle)
Round 10 – Dustin Martin† (Richmond)
Round 11 – Jordan Gysberts (Melbourne)
Round 12 – Ben Reid (Collingwood)
Round 13 – Tom Rockliff (Brisbane Lions)
Round 14 – Ben Stratton (Hawthorn)
Round 15 – Jack Redden (Brisbane Lions)
Round 16 – Phil Davis (Adelaide)
Round 17 – Jarrad Grant† (Western Bulldogs)
Round 18 – Michael Hurley (Essendon)
Round 19 – Jeff Garlett (Carlton)
Round 20 – Jackson Trengove (Port Adelaide)
Round 21 – Sam Wright (North Melbourne)
Round 22 – Anthony Morabito (Fremantle)
† players ineligible due to tribunal sanction
Voting
Dan Hannebery – 45
Tom Scully – 35
Tom Rockliff – 24
Jack Trengove – 11
Ryan Bastinac – 6
Jeff Garlett – 5
Nathan Fyfe – 3
Michael Hurley – 2
Nic Naitanui – 2
Ben Reid – 1
Ben Stratton – 1
The Australian Football League celebrates the best goal of the season through the annual Goal of the Year competition. From 2010 onwards, the commercial name for the award is the Panasonic Goal of the Year.
Lance 'Buddy' Franklin won the award for his running goal against Essendon in round 13. By winning the award Franklin became the fifth indigenous player to win the award since 2004.
Nominations
Round 1 – Brendan Fevola (Brisbane)
Round 2 – Michael Osborne (Hawthorn)
Round 3 – Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle)
Round 4 – Carl Peterson (Hawthorn)
Round 5 – Stephen Milne (St Kilda)
Round 6 – Daniel Bradshaw (Sydney)
Round 7 – Jamie Bennell (Melbourne)
Round 8 – Brent Harvey (North Melbourne)
Round 9 – Brendan Fevola (Brisbane)
Round 10 – Marc Murphy (Carlton)
Round 11 – Stephen Milne (St Kilda)
Round 12 – Stephen Milne (St Kilda)
Round 13 – Lance Franklin (Hawthorn)
Round 14 – Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide)
Round 15 – Rhyce Shaw (Sydney)
Round 16 – Mark LeCras (West Coast)
Round 17 – Mark LeCras (West Coast)
Round 18 – Alan Didak (Collingwood)
Round 19 – Chance Bateman (Hawthorn)
Round 20 – Liam Jurrah (Melbourne)
Round 21 – Cyril Rioli (Hawthorn)
Round 22 – Lynden Dunn (Melbourne)
The Australian Football League celebrates the best mark of the season through the annual Mark of the Year competition. From 2009 onwards, the commercial name for the award is the Hungry Jack's Mark of the Year.
Liam Jurrah, of the Melbourne Football Club, won the award for his mark over the top of Port Adelaide's Nick Salter, in round 21. However, he hadn't been nominated as Mark of the Week, which was won by Brendon Goddard. This inconsistency arose because the Mark of the Week is decided by an online public vote, while the Mark of the Year is decided separately by a panel of experts.
Weekly winners
Round 1 – Trent Cotchin (Richmond)
Round 2 – Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda)
Round 3 – Brett Ebert (Port Adelaide)
Round 4 – Jesse White (Sydney)
Round 5 – David Wojcinski (Geelong)
Round 6 – Colin Sylvia (Melbourne)
Round 7 – Jamie Bennell (Melbourne)
Round 8 – Justin Koschitzke (St Kilda)
Round 9 – Jack Riewoldt (Richmond)
Round 10 – Carl Peterson (Hawthorn)
Round 11 – Jack Riewoldt (Richmond)
Round 12 – Justin Koschitzke (St Kilda)
Round 13 – Michael Osborne (Hawthorn)
Round 14 – Scott Gumbleton (Essendon)
Round 15 – Jack Riewoldt (Richmond)
Round 16 – Luke McPharlin (Fremantle)
Round 17 – Aaron Edwards (North Melbourne)
Round 18 – Darren Jolly (Collingwood)
Round 19 – Dale Thomas (Collingwood)
Round 20 – Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda)
Round 21 – Brendon Goddard (St Kilda)
Round 22 – Brendon Goddard (St Kilda)
Overall winner: Liam Jurrah (Melbourne, Round 21)
Umpiring and rule changes
No major changes to the rules were introduced for the 2010 season. Minor adjustments to the tribunal rules were made, including adding a provision to report players for diving or staging. The 2010 NAB Cup pre-season competition trialled three new rules: allowing boundary umpires to award free kicks, letting the players, not the umpire, decide if they want to utilise the advantage rule and penalising players who push the ball under another player.
