Has an AFL game ever ended 89-71?
Yes. AFL has seen a final score of 89-71 6 times. It first happened on July 2, 1910, when Essendon beat Fitzroy, and most recently on June 19, 1999, when Essendon beat Brisbane Lions.
That makes 89-71 the 342nd most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 90-71 has happened 4 times and 89-72 has happened 3 times. At one point the score disappeared for 28 years, between 1952 and 1980.