Analysis Brisbane become the best-performed club in VFL/AFL history: Comprehensive Premiership Rankings

[Bunk Moreland]

Saturday's win by Brisbane was, historically, a monumental premiership.

In a comprehensive sense, it saw Brisbane overtake Hawthorn as the most successful club in VFL/AFL history.

Weighted Premiership Score (WPS)

As is often argued... all premierships in VFL/AFL history aren't equal.

Winning a flag in 2025, in an 18-club league, is very different to winning one 120 years ago.

To take this into account, each premiership is given a relative points rating.

In 1916, Fitzroy won a VFL flag in a 4-club competition. Across the history of the league, there's been seasons that have featured 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 clubs.

Each premiership won is simply weighted according to the number of clubs competing in that season, and therefore how many clubs the premier had to beat in order to win the flag.

Fitzroy's 1916 flag in worth 1 point, while Collingwood's 1917 flag (6 clubs) is worth 1.5 points. A flag won in a 12-club competition is worth 3 points. And so on, all the way up to a current-day flag, won in an 18-club competition, being worth 4.5 points.

Completed seasons

Clubs are rewarded for securing relative success in a shorter period. Both Hawthorn and Collingwood have a high WPS of 46.25, yet Hawthorn have achieved this in just 101 completed seasons - whereas Collingwood has completed 129 seasons.

To take this into account, each club's WPS is simply divided into the number of completed seasons in the league to produce a comprehensive ratio of premiership success - the Weighted Premiership Ratio.

Saturday's win saw Brisbane's WPS reach 21 in just 39 completed seasons, which sees them overtake Hawthorn and become, comprehensively, the best-performed club in league history when it comes to winning premierships, with a WPR (Weighted Premiership Ratio) of 0.5385.

And they will take some toppling. Both Hawthorn and West Coast will need to win at least two more flags to overtake Brisbane on the all-time table... because they're won the majority of their flags in a smaller league. West Coast has only won one flag in the 18-club era. 8 of Hawthorn's 13 flags came in a league of just 12 or 14 clubs.

Brisbane's combination of wins in a highly-competitive competition, in their relatively short life - the club is just 39 years old - makes them top dog.

Comprehensive Premiership Rankings

Rank​	Club​	WPS​	Completed seasons​	WPR​
1	Brisbane	21.00​	39​	0.5385​
2	Hawthorn	46.25​	101​	0.4579​
3	West Coast	16.00​	39​	0.4103​
4	Collingwood	46.25​	129​	0.3585​
5	Carlton	45.75​	129​	0.3547​
6	Essendon	45.00​	127​	0.3543​
7	Richmond	41.75​	118​	0.3538​
8	Melbourne	39.50​	126​	0.3135​
9	Geelong	34.75​	126​	0.2758​
10	Adelaide	8.00​	35​	0.2286​
11	Fitzroy	16.75​	100​	0.1675​
12	North Melbourne	14.00​	101​	0.1386​
13	Port Adelaide	4.00​	29​	0.1379​
14	South Melbourne / Sydney	16.00​	128​	0.1250​
15	Footscray / Western Bulldogs	7.50​	101​	0.0743​
16	St Kilda	3.00​	127​	0.0236​
17	University	0.00​	7​	0.0000​
18	GWS	0.00​	14​	0.0000​
19	Gold Coast	0.00​	15​	0.0000​
20	Fremantle	0.00​	31​	0.0000​

WPS: Weighted Premiership Score
WPR: Weighted Premiership Ratio

 

[blackey]

Why dont fitzroy and Brisbane add together ?
like south and sydney

 

[Liam Boy]

Why dont fitzroy and Brisbane add together ?
like south and sydney

why don't collingwood and carlton add together? maybe because they're different clubs

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Why dont fitzroy and Brisbane add together ?
like south and sydney

In VFL/AFL records there are two clubs - Brisbane (Bears/Lions), who have been in the league since 1987, and Fitzroy, who were in the league from 1897 to 1996.

This simply reflects the records.

 

[PowerfulPies2023]

He never could compete with Lloyd Braun.

 

[Dazzler9]

Even though I support a legacy VFL club, what does the ladder look like from 1990 onwards Bunk?

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Even though I support a legacy VFL club, what does the ladder look like from 1990 onwards Bunk?

Don’t know, but it’s easy to work out - I’ve given the simple formulas.

1990 is just an arbitrary point in the league’s history that doesn’t mean much on these rankings. 1987 was a big change, and recent years are weighted much heavier because the league is much bigger. But really it doesn’t matter in relative terms, as time in the league and number of clubs is taken into account to weight the rankings.

What is interesting about your club is the massive success of the 1980s expansion clubs. Brisbane and West Coast are two of the top three most successful clubs in the league’s history. They’ve been juggernauts.

While Port, Freo, GWS and Gold Coast now have a combined 89 completed seasons between them, for just one paltry premiership.

 

[blackey]

In VFL/AFL records there are two clubs - Brisbane (Bears/Lions), who have been in the league since 1987, and Fitzroy, who were in the league from 1897 to 1996.

This simply reflects the records.

So why are sydney and south melb. Combined ?

 

[Bunk Moreland]

So why are sydney and south melb. Combined ?

Dunno, ask the club or the AFL

 

[Sentinel]

What about if we include VFA premierships won in 1878? Asking for Colin Carter.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

What about if we include VFA premierships won in 1878? Asking for Colin Carter.

Ah yes, the 11 “press consensus” “premierships” won before the VFA premiership was officially established.

It will stun some people to know Geelong “won” seven of them, and Mr Carter is so keen to see them recognised.