Has an AFL game ever ended 53-31?
It has. 53-31 has been a AFL final 3 times in 16,622 games. The first was Collingwood beat Essendon on August 12, 1899; the latest was Fitzroy beat Melbourne on May 17, 1913.
That makes 53-31 the 1534th most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 54-31 has happened 2 times and 53-32 has happened 1 times. Nearly all of its occurrences fall between 1890 and 1919.