The 2012 Australian Football League season was the 116th season of the Australian rules football competition. It was the first season in which the new team Greater Western Sydney competed, bringing the number of teams in the competition to a record high eighteen.
The season was opened on 24 March with the inaugural Sydney Derby between Sydney and Greater Western Sydney, and concluded on 29 September with the AFL Grand Final with Sydney defeating Hawthorn.
The 2011 National Draft was held on 24 November in Sydney, making it only the second time it was held out of Melbourne. This is due to the entry of Greater Western Sydney.
Adelaide won the 2012 pre season competition following a 34-point win over the West Coast Eagles at AAMI Stadium. It was their second pre season cup premiership.
The fixture for this season was officially announced on 28 October 2011. Some of the features of the fixture included:
Each team played twenty-two matches over twenty-three rounds.
Each team had one bye, located between Rounds 11 and 13. This is similar in practice to the split round concept, which (prior to 2011) saw one of the mid-season rounds played over two weeks, giving each team one week off.
Due to concern over one-sided matches featuring the two newest teams (Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney), their fixtures were adjusted so that they played each of the top five teams from 2011 only once.
For the first time, each Victorian team travelled interstate at least five times, and each team travelled to Perth at least once.
Blundstone Arena, Blacktown International Sportspark Sydney and Škoda Stadium hosted home and away matches for the first time in 2012.
As had been the case since 2010, the final round of matches was given a floating fixture. Exact dates were determined later in the season with a view to giving likely finalists the longest possible break ahead of their first final.
The addition of a ninth match in each round, and the new television rights deal requiring most matches to be shown live, influenced the scheduling of matches, and changed some traditional match starting times. In typical rounds, where nine matches were played between Friday and Sunday, the changes were:
Friday night matches began at 7:50 pm EST instead of 7:40 pm, or 8:40 pm EST when played in South Australia or Western Australia.
Saturday afternoon matches began at 1:40 pm EST and 1:45 pm/2:10 pm EST.
A regular Saturday match was scheduled beginning at 4:40 pm EST – which was either a twilight match on the east coast, or an afternoon match in Perth.
Saturday night matches began at 7:40 pm EST instead of 7:10 pm
The second Sunday afternoon match began at 3:15 pm instead of the traditional 2:10 pm. This change was to allow the Seven Network to show the match live into Victoria, and use it as a lead-in to its 6:00pm news broadcast.
Bold – Home game
X – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin
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.
Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round.
The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Ryan O'Keefe of Sydney, who got 28 disposals.
The Brownlow Medal was originally awarded to Jobe Watson of Essendon, who received 30 votes. On 11 November 2016, Watson relinquished the medal following months of speculation in the wake of the Essendon supplements saga. It was subsequently re-awarded jointly to Sam Mitchell of Hawthorn and Trent Cotchin of Richmond, who received 26 votes each, on 15 November 2016.
The AFL Rising Star was awarded to Daniel Talia of Adelaide, who received 43 votes.
The Coleman Medal was awarded to Jack Riewoldt of Richmond, who kicked 65 goals during the home and away season.
The McClelland Trophy was awarded to Hawthorn.
The Wooden Spoon was "awarded" to Greater Western Sydney.
The AFL Players Association awards were as follows:The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Gary Ablett of Gold Coast, for being the Most Valuable Player throughout the premiership season.
The Robert Rose Award went to Joel Selwood of Geelong and Beau Waters of West Coast, for being the Most Courageous Players throughout the premiership season.
The Best Captain award went to Jobe Watson of Essendon.
The Best First-Year Player award was won by Jeremy Cameron of Greater Western Sydney.
The AFL Coaches Association Awards were as follows:The Player of the Year Award was given to Trent Cotchin of Richmond, who received 107 votes.
The Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year Award was given to John Longmire of Sydney.
The Assistant Coach of the Year Award was given to Peter Sumich of Fremantle.
The Best Young Player Award was given to Dyson Heppell of Essendon.
The inaugural Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award was awarded to Daniel Jackson of Richmond.
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the Coleman that round.
Underlined numbers indicates the player did not play that round.
