Has an AFL game ever ended 72-52?
It has. 72-52 has been a AFL final 3 times in 16,622 games. The first was Geelong beat Melbourne on June 21, 1919; the latest was Essendon beat Fitzroy on July 13, 1957.
That makes 72-52 the 1534th most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 73-52 has happened 2 times and 72-53 has happened 3 times. At one point the score disappeared for 36 years, between 1919 and 1955.