Has an AFL game ever ended 40-28?
Exactly once. On June 5, 1905, Carlton beat Geelong 40-28, and no AFL game before or since has ended that way. When it happened it was a scorigami, the first 40-28 in league history.
That makes 40-28 the 3836th most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 41-28 has happened never and 40-29 has happened 1 times.