The AFL landscape was once again defined by storylines of significance in 2025.
Paradigm-altering trades, moments of individual brilliance and administrative decision-making were just some of the sagas to fuel the perpetual news cycle this season.
So with most of the year in the rearview mirror, let's count down the 10 biggest stories of 2025, with some honourable mentions to kick us off!
Honourable mentions
- Richmond's Round 1 win over Carlton
- Jeremy Cameron's pursuit of the elusive 100-goal season
- The departure of Melbourne's dynamic midfield duo of Petracca and Oliver
- AFL scraps the bounce as the method of restarting play
- Tasmania's stadium gets parliament approval
1Izak Rankine's slur and suspension
The Adelaide Crows' superstar's use of a homophobic slur in a heated Round 23 exchange with Collingwood dominated news cycles for weeks. The talismanic Rankine was not seen on an AFL field again in 2025 following his contentious four-match ban, and reactions to that sanction were as prevalent as they were varied.
The 25-year-old briefly took solace abroad to avoid the scalding aftermath, before returning, and apologising.
The ugly incident overshadowed a brilliant victory for Matthew Nicks' men, who overcame the Pies for the first time in 11 attempts in the August classic. Just weeks later, however, Rankine was condemned to watch from afar as his teammates lost to Craig McRae's inspired charges in the first of the two consecutive September defeats.
Such defeats meant that the Crows were the first minor premiers in over 40 years to exit the finals in straight sets, in their first finals series since 2017.
