Has an AFL game ever ended 78-56?
It has. 78-56 has been a AFL final 7 times in 16,622 games. The first was St Kilda beat Geelong on May 15, 1920; the latest was Geelong beat Fitzroy on June 4, 1956.
That makes 78-56 the 191st most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 79-56 has happened 6 times and 78-57 has happened 3 times. Nearly all of its occurrences fall between 1920 and 1949.