THE MOST complex trade we've seen, including the exchange of the No.1 pick at the NAB AFL Draft, features as we start to count down the top 10 in AFL.com.au's 50 biggest stories of 2022.
On the field we were treated to one of the great finals series and two seasons of AFLW, while off it, we saw the return of a master coach.
PART ONE 50-41 Biggest stories of 2022
PART TWO 40-31 Biggest stories of 2022
PART THREE 30-21 Biggest stories of 2022
PART FOUR 20-11 Biggest stories of 2022
10. Cripps' Brownlow triumph after Appeals Board win
It was a four-day saga in the week that followed round 21 as Carlton captain Patrick Cripps fought to escape suspension for a high bump on Brisbane's Callum Ah Chee. The week started with the Match Review Officer's verdict of a two-game ban, which Carlton then challenged unsuccessfully at the Tribunal. The Blues then used the next avenue open to them and went to the Appeals Board, which found that Cripps had not been offered procedural fairness by the Tribunal in a decision that frustrated AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan. It kept Cripps available before finals, however, and made his Brownlow Medal triumph possible in a thrilling count that was alive right to the final round. The 27-year-old was a worthy winner after playing some of the most dominant football of the season early on, securing the honour with a three-vote performance against Collingwood in the final round of the season.
9. AFLW expands and doubles up in 2022
After six seasons, the AFLW competition was finally whole after it expanded to 18 teams ahead of season seven. It was the most significant milestone since the competition's inception in 2017 as Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and Sydney all joined and played their first games, with the League becoming the biggest employer of female athletes in Australia. The other side of the story was the major commitment the players made to complete two seasons in one year, with season six starting in January and season seven kicking off in late August. With 18 teams in place, season seven launched by paying tribute to the pioneers who had driven the growth in women's football and it ended with a sense that every girl who wants to play the game now has a clear pathway to do so.
8. The 'mega trade'
If it wasn't the biggest trade in the game's history, it was certainly the most complicated as North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Greater Western Sydney and West Coast brokered a deal that saw six first-round picks move hands – including the first three – as well as last year's No.1 pick and a premiership star. It all started with the bombshell of the period that Jason Horne-Francis want to join the Power after just one season with North Melbourne. West Coast small forward Junior Rioli also sought a move to Port, while the Giants got in on the deal to secure pick No.1 in the NAB AFL Draft. With the Power loading up for 2023, West Coast turning one pick into two gun WA draftees, and the Giants securing a key forward who should play his career there, it was a trade that suited everyone's purposes. The Kangaroos also made the best of a bad situation, with prized draftees Harry Sheezel and George Wardlaw joining the club.
7. A finals series to savour
Many football fans would reflect on the 2022 finals series as the best they have witnessed, with thrillers in every week except for the one that matters most. The first fortnight was the tightest in more than two decades, with an average margin in the first six finals of just 12 points, including Brisbane's two-point win against Richmond, which included a controversial score review after Tom Lynch had a chance to seal victory for the Tigers, and Geelong's one-goal win over Collingwood. Then we got to the preliminary finals and Sydney and Collingwood played out an exhausting epic at the SCG that included yet another Magpie fightback that looked like succeeding as they gathered momentum. The other preliminary final saw Geelong demolish Brisbane by 71 points, while the Grand Final was decided by 81. It was a rollicking September though, providing no shortage of motivation for the 2023 contenders.
6. Painful year ends with Clarko coup for Roos
North Melbourne's incredibly disappointing season was a rolling storyline as coach David Noble fought an uphill – and ultimately unsuccessful – battle to keep his job, while the team got beaten comprehensively week after week. The worst stretch was an 11-game losing streak between rounds five and 16 when the Kangaroos lost every game by 40 points or more, and Noble was gone after just 38 games, with Leigh Adams taking the reins and delivering one of the highlights with a four-point win against Richmond in round 18. Recruiters left in numbers and chief executive Ben Amarfio also departed the club, with the acquisition of master coach Alastair Clarkson after a year out of the game a major coup for new president Sonja Hood. But ultimately even that came with baggage, with Clarkson facing historical allegations relating to the mistreatment of First Nations players and their families during his time at Hawthorn.