Has an AFL game ever ended 71-65?
Yes. AFL has seen a final score of 71-65 5 times. It first happened on August 16, 1930, when Geelong beat Richmond, and most recently on August 8, 1981, when Richmond beat St Kilda.
That makes 71-65 the 589th most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 72-65 has happened 5 times and 71-66 has happened 8 times. At one point the score disappeared for 33 years, between 1932 and 1965.