If the AFL Grand Final is a draw at the end of regular time, the match goes into additional time rather than being replayed the following week. The procedure is as follows:
- After the final siren and confirmation by the goal umpires that the scores are identical, there is a six-minute break.
- Teams change ends.
- Two periods of extra time are played, each lasting three minutes plus time-on.
- After the first three-minute period, the siren sounds, and teams change ends again without a break.
- The second three-minute period is then played.
- If scores are still tied after these two periods, the process repeats until a winner is determined.
- Each additional time period allows for 10 interchange rotations per team, which do not carry over to further periods.
This approach replaced the previous system where drawn grand finals were replayed the following week, a rule that existed until 2015 and resulted in three grand final replays in history (1948, 1977, 2010). Since 2016, extra time is used to decide the premiership on the same day, with no grand final replays required.
