Contenders for the game of the year began on the opening night of the season when a Tom Lynch contested clunk and goal tied up the Richmond vs Carlton opener, setting the scene for one of the greatest home & away seasons in the AFL era.

Nearly every round after produced thrillers, comebacks, upsets and big crowds that make our game so special and have led us to yet another premiership race to not miss a second of.

Last season's Round 23 Carlton vs Collingwood clash saw the home & away season reach heights never before seen in our sport, as the grim reaper in Collingwood stormed home to secure a top four spot, eliminating the Blues in the clear-cut game of the year.

This season saw one side eliminated from contention in even more heartbreaking fashion, while others claimed statement wins throughout the season via comebacks, individual brilliance and close-game artistry.

With a plethora of thrilling battles to choose from, here is the list of the 10 best matches of the 2023 home & away season.

Honourable mentions

4. Essendon (71 vs 70) Richmond - Round 10

MCG
Crowd: 78,300

Only 2023 could have produced a top five match of the season featuring two eventual non-finalists, but this match will live on in memory for more reasons than its premiership consequences.

Every year, Dreamtime at the 'G captivates audiences with an even grander spectacle than the last.

More than 78,000 packed into the MCG this year to see the stunning display of live Indigenous artistry in the pre-game ceremony.

On the playing field was a rejuvenated Bombers side ready for a mid-season charge under new coach Brad Scott toward a compelling finals berth.

In their path; the most recent juggernauts of the competition, lifted into contention with the inclusion of a Brownlow fancy in Tim Taranto, and Jacob Hopper who was absent on the night.

The story of this match however, would not be complete until the following Wednesday, where Richmond senior coach Damien Hardwick would confirm it was the last in his Tigers tenure.

Sloppiness infected the first half's proceedings, with most goals coming from free kicks or skill errors, revving up the crowd as the scoreboard ebbed and flowed.

Luckily, it began to heat up come the second half, where a Jack Riewoldt hanger and a slick Shai Bolton dribbler set the Richmond army alight.

That goal took the margin into double digits for the first time of the match, before Dustin Martin wheeled around to launch an early fourth-quarter goal from outside 50 and lay an 18-point cushion.

The Bombers embraced the chaos of the occasion and, led by the will of Zach Merrett's 39 disposals and seven tackles on the night, cut the lead back to six after a Jake Stringer long bomb raised an MCG ruckus.

Still, the match ebbed and flowed in an end-to-end frenzy with each team managing goals on the last line of offence, until a superb passage of fast footy in the final 90 seconds decided the match.

A Zach Merrett chasedown on Dustin Martin kept the ball in dispute before finding Essendon hands.

They spread to the half-back run of Mason Redman who sent them forward with emphasis.

30 more seconds of scrappy football saw the Bombers win most of the crucial battles. Former skipper Dyson Heppell took a clutch intercept mark to generate another inside 50, before Jake Stringer found the footy and hacked it to the top of the goal-square.

Floating in was 22-year-old Sam Durham, having kicked the bombers back into the game with a fourth-quarter set shot moments ago.

He marked, ran down the clock, and kicked the goal that would send Richmond's most successful coach in history away from the sport, in a glorious one-point dreamtime win for Essendon.