Has an AFL game ever ended 81-80?
Yes. AFL has seen a final score of 81-80 6 times. It first happened on July 7, 1945, when Carlton beat Melbourne, and most recently on March 26, 2021, when Geelong beat Brisbane Lions.
That makes 81-80 the 342nd most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 82-80 has happened 8 times and 81-81 has happened 1 times. At one point the score disappeared for 45 years, between 1968 and 2013.