Has an AFL game ever ended 49-38?
It has. 49-38 has been a AFL final 3 times in 16,622 games. The first was Geelong beat Carlton on June 5, 1911; the latest was Hawthorn beat North Melbourne on August 1, 1964.
That makes 49-38 the 1534th most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 50-38 has happened 1 times and 49-39 has happened 4 times. At one point the score disappeared for 47 years, between 1917 and 1964.