Has an AFL game ever ended 56-40?
Yes. AFL has seen a final score of 56-40 2 times. It first happened on May 22, 1915, when Sydney beat Fitzroy, and most recently on June 22, 1963, when St Kilda beat Essendon.
That makes 56-40 the 2421st most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 57-40 has happened 2 times and 56-41 has happened 3 times. At one point the score disappeared for 48 years, between 1915 and 1963.