Has an AFL game ever ended 43-38?
It has. 43-38 has been a AFL final 3 times in 16,622 games. The first was Sydney beat Melbourne on August 13, 1898; the latest was Footscray beat Hawthorn on August 17, 1985.
That makes 43-38 the 1534th most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 44-38 has happened 2 times and 43-39 has happened never. At one point the score disappeared for 66 years, between 1919 and 1985.