Has an AFL game ever ended 81-74?
It has. 81-74 has been a AFL final 6 times in 16,622 games. The first was Richmond beat Footscray on July 17, 1948; the latest was GWS beat Geelong on May 27, 2023.
That makes 81-74 the 342nd most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 82-74 has happened 3 times and 81-75 has happened 5 times.