Has an AFL game ever ended 171-72?
Exactly once. On May 19, 2002, Essendon beat St Kilda 171-72, and no AFL game before or since has ended that way. When it happened it was a scorigami, the first 171-72 in league history.
That makes 171-72 the 3836th most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 172-72 has happened never and 171-73 has happened 1 times.