The AFL has fallen behind the NRL as the most popular Australian sport on Twitter.

#AFL was the third most used sporting hashtag in Australia throughout 2021 behind #NRL and #Tokyo2020.

No AFL player managed to crack into the top eight most tweeted about Australian athletes either. With the top eight names all belonging to athletes with an international presence.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 07: Patrick Dangerfield of the Cats and Trent Cotchin of the Tigers compete for the ball during the 2019 AFL round 12 match between the Richmond Tigers and the Geelong Cats at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on June 07, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos)

In the list of top ten most used hashtags not just limited to sport, #NRL finished in 8th place ahead of #AFL in 9th position.

There were no major gains in followers on Twitter for AFL players, but Bailey Smith did recently overtake Dustin Martin as the most followed AFL player on Instagram.

AFL Rd 1 - Collingwood v Western Bulldogs
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 19: Bailey Smith of the Bulldogs in action during the 2021 AFL Round 01 match between the Collingwood Magpies and the Western Bulldogs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 19, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Smith currently boasts 355k followers which has risen as his profile as somewhat of a cult figure has developed.

The AFL currently has over 776k followers on Twitter with the NRL having just under 584k following their official account.