Has an AFL game ever ended 52-42?
Yes. AFL has seen a final score of 52-42 3 times. It first happened on June 3, 1911, when Carlton beat St Kilda, and most recently on July 23, 1966, when Essendon beat North Melbourne.
That makes 52-42 the 1534th most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 53-42 has happened 2 times and 52-43 has happened 2 times. At one point the score disappeared for 53 years, between 1913 and 1966.