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AFLThe season, counted
Charlie CurnowCharlie Curnow ›SydneySYD

AFL scoring jumped 9.6 points a game in 2026. The kicking didn't get straighter.

Eight seasons of goals and behinds, and every 2026 kicker sorted.

By Adam4 Nov 20263 min readNumbers to the end of the 2026 home and away season
Figure 1

Scoring shots climbed. The aim didn't move.

AFL home and away, 2019 to 2026 · both sides, a game

Scoring shots a game40.5 in 2019 → 44.8 in 2026

364044482019202020212022202320242025202630.2 ↓short quarters40.544.8

Goals per scoring shot57.4% in 2019 → 57.7% in 2026

50%54%58%62%66%2019202020212022202320242025202657.4%57.7%59.1%
Note: The two scales are matched, so the same percentage rise climbs the same height in each. 2020's quarters were 16 minutes, so its 30.2 shots a game sit below the scale; its accuracy compares.Source: Punt's database, read 26 October 2026.
Show the numbers
SeasonGamesGoalsBehindsScoring shots a gameGoals per scoring shotPoints a gameRushed behinds (derived)
20191984,6013,41440.557.4%160.8823
2020 (16-minute quarters)1532,6761,94430.257.9%121.1524
20211984,5753,35540.157.7%159.6797
20221984,7813,34941.158.8%166.1856
20232075,0353,49641.259.0%167.4938
20242075,0803,52041.559.1%168.7922
20252075,0703,65242.158.1%168.6831
20262075,3473,92344.857.7%178.2885

Why?

“Is goalkicking getting worse?” comes up every season. 2026 was also the highest-scoring home-and-away season of the eight Punt holds: 178.2 points a game, up 9.6 on 2025. I counted every goal and behind since 2019 to see how both could be said about one year.

More shots, not straighter ones

A scoring shot here is a goal or a behind kicked by a player. In 2026, 5,347 of 9,270 scoring shots were goals: 57.7%. All eight seasons sit between 57.4% (2019) and 59.1% (2024), and 2026 was below each of the four seasons before it.

What moved was the number of shots: 44.8 a game, both sides together, up from 42.1 in 2025 and 40.5 in 2019, the most of the eight seasons. Goals rose with them, from 24.5 a game to 25.8. A goal is 6 points and a behind 1, so at 2025's kicking a scoring shot was worth 3.91 points on average. Here is where the extra 9.6 points came from:

Figure 2

Where the extra 9.6 points came from

points a game, 2026 against 2025 · home and away · derived
More scoring shots 42.1 → 44.8+10.3
Less straight kicking 58.1% → 57.7%−1.0
Rushed behinds 4.0 → 4.3+0.3
The rise 168.6 → 178.2+9.6
Note: The extra shots are priced at 2025's 3.91 points a shot, and the kicking change over 2026's 44.8 shots a game. The three parts add to the rise.Source: Derived from Punt's database, read 26 October 2026.
Show the numbers
Part20252026Points a game
More scoring shots42.1 a game44.8 a game+10.3
Goals per scoring shot58.1%57.7%−1.0
Rushed behinds4.0 a game4.3 a game+0.3
The rise168.6178.2+9.6

The extra shots alone were worth 10.3 points a game, more than the whole rise. Kicking a touch less straight gave 1.0 back, and rushed behinds added 0.3. A rushed behind is derived: what is left of a club's score once its players' goals and behinds are counted. Count rushed behinds as misses and every season drops 5 to 6 points, but the line stays flat: 52.0% to 53.4%, with 2026 on 52.7%.

2020 is the odd one out. Its quarters were cut to 16 minutes, so its 121.1 points and 30.2 shots a game don't compare with any other season. Its accuracy does: 57.9%, inside the same band.

Same shots, different kickers

102 players had 30 or more scoring shots in 2026, up from 93 in 2025. Sorted from most accurate to least, they run from Cooper Trembath's 76.2%76.2%↗ to Harley Reid's 35.7%:

Figure 3

Every 2026 kicker with 30 or more scoring shots

goals per scoring shot, home and away · most accurate first · one bar a player
0%20%40%60%80%League: 57.7%Cooper Trembath76.2% · 32.10Charlie Curnow65.7% · 69.36Logan Morris60.0% · 63.42Jake Waterman46.7% · 49.56Harley Reid35.7% · 15.27
Note: After each percentage, goals.behinds. The dashed line is the whole league, 57.7%.Source: Punt's database, read 26 October 2026.
Show the numbers
PlayerClubGoalsBehindsScoring shotsGoals per scoring shot
1Cooper TrembathNorth Melbourne32104276.2%
2Daniel McStayCollingwood43145775.4%
3Logan McDonaldSydney42155773.7%
4Jack DarlingNorth Melbourne36134973.5%
5Jordan DawsonAdelaide2283073.3%
6Ben KeaysAdelaide30114173.2%
7Marcus BontempelliWestern Bulldogs30114173.2%
8Michael FrederickFremantle2393271.9%
9Nick WatsonHawthorn55227771.4%
10Darcy FogartyAdelaide30124271.4%
11Jed WalterGold Coast33144770.2%
12Ben KingGold Coast60268669.8%
13Oliver DempseyGeelong30134369.8%
14Isaac HeeneySydney32144669.6%
15Harvey LangfordMelbourne22103268.8%
16Charlie CameronBrisbane Lions50237368.5%
17Mitch McGovernCarlton34165068.0%
18Josh RacheleAdelaide38185667.9%
19Jobe ShanahanWest Coast29144367.4%
20Jacob van RooyenMelbourne42216366.7%
21Oliver HenryGeelong42216366.7%
22Callum BrownGreater Western Sydney22113366.7%
23Shannon NealeGeelong47247166.2%
24Charlie CurnowSydney693610565.7%
25Kai LohmannBrisbane Lions46247065.7%
26Mykelti LefauRichmond23123565.7%
27Taylor WalkerAdelaide32174965.3%
28Tim MembreyCollingwood32174965.3%
29Bayley FritschMelbourne35195464.8%
30Shaun MannaghGeelong35195464.8%
31Jye AmissFremantle58329064.4%
32Harry PettyMelbourne25143964.1%
33Corey DurdinPort Adelaide32185064.0%
34Patrick DangerfieldGeelong23133663.9%
35Isaiah DudleyFremantle28164463.6%
36Paul CurtisNorth Melbourne38226063.3%
37Kade ChandlerMelbourne22133562.9%
38Jack GunstonHawthorn59359462.8%
39Jordan de GoeyCollingwood20123262.5%
40Max GruzewskiGreater Western Sydney20123262.5%
41Aaron CadmanGreater Western Sydney33205362.3%
42Liam RyanSt Kilda33205362.3%
43Ben LongGold Coast28174562.2%
44Peter WrightEssendon28174562.2%
45Shai BoltonFremantle21133461.8%
46Nick LarkeyNorth Melbourne45287361.6%
47Jason Horne-FrancisPort Adelaide27174461.4%
48Francis EvansCarlton22143661.1%
49Harry SharpMelbourne25164161.0%
50Joel AmarteySydney28184660.9%
51Kysaiah PickettMelbourne28184660.9%
52Zac BaileyBrisbane Lions31205160.8%
53Ben AinsworthCarlton26174360.5%
54Logan MorrisBrisbane Lions634210560.0%
55Brodie KempCarlton36246060.0%
56Will HaywardCarlton24164060.0%
57Conor McKennaBrisbane Lions21143560.0%
58Dylan MooreHawthorn21143560.0%
59Phoenix GothardGreater Western Sydney18123060.0%
60Aaron NaughtonWestern Bulldogs46317759.7%
61Chad WarnerSydney34235759.6%
62Mitch LewisHawthorn34235759.6%
63Jack MartinGeelong22153759.5%
64Nasiah Wanganeen-MileraSt Kilda19133259.4%
65Josh TreacyFremantle54389258.7%
66Patrick VossFremantle41297058.6%
67Luke JacksonFremantle24174158.5%
68Rhylee WestWestern Bulldogs18133158.1%
69Jack HigginsSt Kilda29215058.0%
70Mabior CholHawthorn29215058.0%
71Christian PetraccaGold Coast22163857.9%
72Jeremy CameronGeelong39296857.4%
73Lachie SchultzCollingwood24184257.1%
74Max HallSt Kilda26204656.5%
75Angus AndersonCollingwood18143256.3%
76Nate CaddyEssendon46368256.1%
77Izak RankineAdelaide23184156.1%
78Mitch OwensSt Kilda29235255.8%
79Riley ThilthorpeAdelaide34276155.7%
80Cooper SharmanSt Kilda26214755.3%
81Harry McKayCarlton32265855.2%
82Toby GreeneGreater Western Sydney34286254.8%
83Nick DaicosCollingwood24204454.5%
84Matthew JeffersonMelbourne18153354.5%
85Cam RaynerBrisbane Lions25214654.3%
86Arthur JonesWestern Bulldogs21183953.8%
87Connor MacdonaldHawthorn16143053.3%
88Jack GinnivanHawthorn19173652.8%
89Mitch GeorgiadesPort Adelaide51479852.0%
90Jake StringerGreater Western Sydney48459351.6%
91Tom PapleySydney27265350.9%
92Jack WhitlockPort Adelaide24244850.0%
93Seth CampbellRichmond18183650.0%
94Darcy WilsonSt Kilda16173348.5%
95Will AshcroftBrisbane Lions16173348.5%
96Leo LombardGold Coast18203847.4%
97Jake WatermanWest Coast495610546.7%
98Bailey HumphreyGold Coast22264845.8%
99Patrick CrippsCarlton14183243.8%
100Tom LynchRichmond20264643.5%
101Murphy ReidFremantle12193138.7%
102Harley ReidWest Coast15274235.7%

Trembath kicked 32.10 for North Melbourne: 32 goals and 10 behinds. Reid kicked 15.27 for West Coast. Together the 102 kicked 60.6%, and 71 of them were above the league's 57.7%. Players with fewer than 30 shots kicked 53.9% between them.

Three players had the most scoring shots, and the same number: 105 each.

Figure 4

105 scoring shots each, 20 goals apart

2026 home and away · one square a scoring shot

Charlie CurnowSydney

69 goals36 behinds65.7%

Logan MorrisBrisbane Lions

63 goals42 behinds60.0%

Jake WatermanWest Coast

49 goals56 behinds46.7%

Note: Filled squares are goals, hollow squares behinds.Source: Punt's database, read 26 October 2026.
Show the numbers
PlayerClubScoring shotsGoalsBehindsGoals per scoring shot
Charlie CurnowSydney105693665.7%
Logan MorrisBrisbane Lions105634260.0%
Jake WatermanWest Coast105495646.7%

Same 105 shots, 20 goals apart. Charlie Curnow kicked 6969↗ goals from them, Logan Morris 63 and Jake Waterman 49. Waterman kicked more behinds (5656↗) than goals. Curnow's 69 won the home-and-away goalkicking count, 6 clear of Morris. Among the 102, Curnow's 65.7% was 24th, Morris's 60.0% 54th and Waterman's 46.7% 97th.

Curnow's season, game by game, with the line at 2.5 goals:

Figure 5

Every Charlie Curnow game of 2026: drag the line

goals, all 22 home-and-away games for Sydney

Over 2.5: 14/22 games

02468
↕ 2.5
Note: The line starts at 2.5 goals. An empty slot is a game without a goal.Source: Punt's database, read 26 October 2026.
Show the numbers
RoundOpponentGoalsBehindsSydney
Opening Roundv Carlton32W 132–69
Round 1v Brisbane Lions02W 104–60
Round 2at Hawthorn21L 82–99
Round 4at West Coast42W 163–35
Round 5v Gold Coast04W 100–68
Round 6v Greater Western Sydney30W 107–66
Round 7at Western Bulldogs72W 126–60
Round 8v Melbourne14W 131–114
Round 10v Collingwood11W 81–75
Round 11at Geelong20L 80–107
Round 12v Richmond81W 170–56
Round 13v St Kilda23W 104–102
Round 14at Port Adelaide31W 93–90
Round 16at Brisbane Lions30L 83–126
Round 17v Western Bulldogs61W 90–55
Round 18at Fremantle51L 73–111
Round 19v Adelaide02L 71–87
Round 20at Greater Western Sydney42W 139–88
Round 21at St Kilda30W 107–88
Round 22v Port Adelaide52W 167–70
Round 23at Essendon41W 112–76
Round 24v North Melbourne34W 123–70

Curnow kicked 3 or more in 14 of 22 games. The 3 games without a goal still had behinds: 0.2 in Round 1, 0.4 in Round 5 and 0.2 in Round 19.

↗Drag the line on any AFL playerGoals and behinds, every game, on every player's page in Punt.Open Charlie Curnow →

Straight-kicking clubs

Adelaide kicked straightest in 2026, and West Coast least:

Figure 6

Every club's goals per scoring shot in 2026

home and away, 23 games each · players' goals ÷ (goals + behinds)

The league, 57.7%

Adelaide 322.19562.3%
Geelong 346.22061.1%
Sydney 375.24160.9%
Melbourne 339.22260.4%
North Melbourne 280.19558.9%
Brisbane Lions 366.25558.9%
Gold Coast 291.20958.2%
Fremantle 332.23958.1%
Collingwood 293.21657.6%
Western Bulldogs 275.20757.1%
Carlton 289.21956.9%
Hawthorn 327.24856.9%
Greater Western Sydney 300.23056.6%
St Kilda 293.23056.0%
Essendon 229.18355.6%
Richmond 209.17854.0%
Port Adelaide 255.22453.2%
West Coast 226.21251.6%
Note: Beside each club, its goals.behinds. The dashed line is the league, 57.7%.Source: Punt's database, read 26 October 2026.
Show the numbers
ClubGoalsBehinds20262025Scoring shots a game, 20262025
Adelaide32219562.3%63.0%22.523.4
Geelong34622061.1%59.8%24.625.9
Sydney37524160.9%53.9%26.821.3
Melbourne33922260.4%54.1%24.421.8
North Melbourne28019558.9%62.2%20.718.7
Brisbane Lions36625558.9%56.0%27.023.0
Gold Coast29120958.2%59.9%21.723.0
Fremantle33223958.1%59.6%24.821.0
Collingwood29321657.6%56.3%22.122.1
Western Bulldogs27520757.1%62.2%21.025.8
Carlton28921956.9%56.7%22.119.9
Hawthorn32724856.9%59.9%25.021.8
Greater Western Sydney30023056.6%61.7%23.022.0
St Kilda29323056.0%58.5%22.719.9
Essendon22918355.6%57.3%17.916.7
Richmond20917854.0%53.3%16.816.7
Port Adelaide25522453.2%54.5%20.819.5
West Coast22621251.6%53.7%19.016.9

Adelaide's 322.195 is 62.3%. West Coast's 226.212 is 51.6%. 14 of the 18 clubs took more scoring shots a game than in 2025, and 7 kicked straighter. Sydney moved most: 53.9% to 60.9%, and 26.8 shots a game against 21.3, in the season Curnow arrived from Carlton.

Why so many more shots? ESPN's Shannon Gill put it down to the rules in May, eight rounds into the season:

For all the rage against the more strictly policed stand rule, in concert with the last touch lasso, ruck simplification, and the maturation of 6-6-6, it is working to the AFL's objectives.

Shannon Gill, ESPN, 7 May 2026

That is a claim about cause, and a count of goals and behinds can't test it. Nor can it see the shots that missed altogether: out on the full, short, or touched. AFL Tables doesn't record them, which is why this 57.7% isn't the shot-on-goal accuracy in ESPN's piece, which counts every shot. Where each shot was taken from, set shot or on the run, isn't in the feed either. If the feed ever records every shot, scored or not, I'll count 2026 again with them in.

Summary

Points a game
168.62025→178.22026
Scoring shots a game
42.12025→44.82026
Goals per scoring shot
58.1%2025→57.7%2026

The working

Definitions, sources and when the numbers were read
Seasons
Every AFL home-and-away game from 2019 to 2026: 1,575 games, every one complete, with player rows for both clubs. The 74 finals are left out of every number here, 2026's 2 wildcard finals included. Per-game numbers are both sides added together. Punt holds AFL seasons from 2019, so "the most of the eight" is as far back as this count goes.
Scoring shot
A goal or a behind credited to a player in AFL Tables' match stats. AFL Tables leaves a zero blank, so a player with no goals or no behinds in a game has no entry for it; it counts as 0.
Goals per scoring shot
Goals ÷ (goals + players' behinds), over every game in the group. Derived.
Rushed behinds
Derived: a club's score − 6 × its players' goals − its players' behinds, game by game (never below zero in any of the 1,649 games). 885 in 2026. No player kicked them, so they are not in the accuracy. Counted as misses, every season reads between 52.0% and 53.4%, and 2026 52.7%: the same flat line, lower.
Shots that missed
Shots that missed altogether (out on the full, short, touched off the boot) are not in AFL Tables' stats, so they are in no number here. Shot-on-goal accuracy, the measure in ESPN's piece, counts them, which makes it a different number for a different pile of shots; the two don't compare.
Where the points came from
Derived. Points a game = scoring shots a game × (1 + 5 × goals per scoring shot) + rushed behinds a game, because a goal is 6 points and a behind 1. The extra shots: 2.647 more a game × 2025's 3.906 points a shot = 10.34. The kicking: 44.783 shots a game × (3.884 − 3.906) = -1.00. Rushed behinds: 4.275 − 4.014 a game = +0.26. Together +9.60.
2020
Quarters were 16 minutes plus time on, not 20 (AFL.com.au's guide to the 2020 restart), and the season had 153 home-and-away games. Its per-game numbers are drawn and listed but not compared. Goals per scoring shot doesn't depend on how long a game runs, so its 57.9% is.
Kickers
2026 home-and-away games, a player's rows joined across clubs, 30 or more scoring shots: 102 players (93 in 2025), 3 of them on exactly 30. Ties in Figure 3 are broken by more shots, then by name. Together they kicked 60.6%; everyone else, 53.9%.
Clubs
Each club's 23 home-and-away games, 2026 against 2025: players' goals ÷ (goals + behinds), and the club's own scoring shots a game. Charlie Curnow played 22 for Sydney in 2026; Curnow's 2025 rows are for Carlton.
Read
26 October 2026, from Punt's database, in a read-only transaction.
Sources
Every score and stat can be checked against the competition's record at AFL Tables. The stand-rule claim: Shannon Gill, ESPN, The record-breaking numbers behind the AFL's scoring surge in 2026, 7 May 2026. The 2020 quarters: AFL.com.au.
Not in this article
Where each shot was taken from (distance, angle, set shot or general play), shots that missed altogether, the finals, why scoring rose, seasons before 2019, and prices.
Sources and terms
Every source Punt uses, with its licence, is on Credits. The terms are defined in the Glossary, and the methodology page sets out where every number comes from and the rules it follows.
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