Has an AFL game ever ended 72-70?
It has. 72-70 has been a AFL final 7 times in 16,622 games. The first was Melbourne beat Fitzroy on April 29, 1911; the latest was Fremantle beat Richmond on May 14, 2017.
That makes 72-70 the 191st most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 73-70 has happened 1 times and 72-71 has happened 6 times. At one point the score disappeared for 68 years, between 1930 and 1998.