The 2025 AFL season was littered with classic fixtures and dramatic matches, with post-siren winners and defining final-minute plays combining to create another memorable season.

Before we look toward 2026, we recap some of the best encounters of the year, counting down the 10 greatest games of 2025. 

Starting at 10, here's our ranking of the 10 best games from the year that was... 

1St Kilda vs Melbourne, Round 20

A 'where were you when?' kind of occasion. The Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera game.

It seemed like just another Sunday twilight game at Marvel Stadium, which pitted two sides out of the September race against one another to conclude Round 20.

The Demons had sailed out to a 46-point three-quarter time lead to have this one just about in the books, leaving the Saints to require the biggest fourth quarter comeback in V/AFL history to take the four points.

Three goals to Ross Lyon's men in the opening seven minutes gave the game a heartbeat once again, before Cooper Sharman and Jack Higgins converted their second each of the final term to somehow have the margin sitting at just five points in the dying stages before Melbourne added a point via a rushed behind.

The Demons had their chance to ice the game via Clayton Oliver, who somehow couldn't register a score from 25 metres out on a small angle in open play, with his shot on goal going out on the full and giving the Saints possession.

The Saints eventually made their way up the flank, needing any chance they could get just to level the scores and clinch an unlikely draw. With a shot to go forward, Mason Wood drove a long kick from the wing to the pocket, where Wanganeen-Milera climbed the back of Bayley Fritsch and hung onto a stunning specky to have a set shot from 30 metres out with less than a minute left.

The star Saint kicked truly to bring the scores level at 90 apiece, leaving the game with just eight seconds on the clock and the ball restarting in the middle, where it would be there for the taking for either side.

The commotion would only be compounded when a six-six-six call was paid against Melbourne, giving the Saints immediate possession through the hands of ruckman Rowan Marshall.

Every player on the ground streamed forward, yet somehow the man of the moment, Wanganeen-Milera, went unmanned, with Marshall's perfectly weighted kick inside 50 finding his teammate before the siren.

The final bell sounded just seconds after his mark, leaving Wanganeen-Milera just needing a single score from his set shot.

With ease, the clutch Saint converted a goal to march the Saints to a record-breaking victory.

The loss for the Demons mounted further pressure on Melbourne premiership coach Simon Goodwin, who was sacked just over a week later.

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