Has an AFL game ever ended 42-36?
Exactly once. On July 20, 1901, Melbourne beat Carlton 42-36, and no AFL game before or since has ended that way. When it happened it was a scorigami, the first 42-36 in league history.
That makes 42-36 the 3836th most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 43-36 has happened 3 times and 42-37 has happened 3 times.