2016 AFL finals series
Qualification
Reigning premiers Hawthorn and perennial finalists Sydney each qualified for their seventh straight finals appearance, the latter a club record. Two clubs that had reached the finals the previous year, but failed to qualify this year, were Fremantle and Richmond; Geelong returned to the finals after missing out the previous year, while Greater Western Sydney contested its first finals series since entering the AFL in 2012.

2016 AFL finals series

Section Title: Qualification
Table Section Text: Reigning premiers Hawthorn and perennial finalists Sydney each qualified for their seventh straight finals appearance, the latter a club record. Two clubs that had reached the finals the previous year, but failed to qualify this year, were Fremantle and Richmond; Geelong returned to the finals after missing out the previous year, while Greater Western Sydney contested its first finals series since entering the AFL in 2012.

2016 AFL season ladder (top 11)

#	Team	W	D	L	PF	PA	%	Pts

1	Sydney	17	0	5	2221	1469	151.2	68

2	Geelong	17	0	5	2235	1554	143.8	68

3	Hawthorn	17	0	5	2134	1800	118.6	68

4	Greater Western Sydney	16	0	6	2380	1663	143.1	64

5	Adelaide	16	0	6	2483	1795	138.3	64

6	West Coast	16	0	6	2181	1678	130	64

7	Western Bulldogs	15	0	7	1857	1609	115.4	60

8	North Melbourne	12	0	10	1956	1859	105.2	48

9	St Kilda	12	0	10	1953	2041	95.7	48

10	Port Adelaide	10	0	12	2055	1939	106	40

11	Melbourne	10	0	12	1944	1991	97.6	40

Sentence(s)

Hawthorn finished third with a 17–5 record, percentage of 118.6.

final_sentence: Hawthorn finished third with a 17–5 record, percentage of 118.6.