| # | Player | Team | Tackles | Opponent | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rory Laird | Adelaide | 20 | vs Collingwood | 2022 |
| 2 | Jude Bolton | Sydney | 19 | vs West Coast | 2011 |
| 3 | Tom Liberatore | Western Bulldogs | 19 | vs Melbourne | 2016 |
| 4 | Jack Ziebell | North Melbourne | 19 | vs Melbourne | 2016 |
| 5 | Sam Berry | Adelaide | 19 | vs Port Adelaide | 2026 |
| 6 | Matt Priddis | West Coast | 18 | vs Richmond | 2014 |
| 7 | Mitch Duncan | Geelong | 18 | vs Western Bulldogs | 2017 |
| 8 | Jack Steele | St Kilda | 18 | vs North Melbourne | 2019 |
| 9 | Tristan Xerri | North Melbourne | 18 | vs Richmond | 2025 |
| 10 | Josh Dunkley | Brisbane Lions | 18 | vs Gold Coast | 2025 |
| 11 | Andrew Swallow | North Melbourne | 17 | vs Melbourne | 2012 |
| 12 | Liam Shiels | Hawthorn | 17 | vs West Coast | 2015 |
| 13 | Tom Rockliff | Brisbane Lions | 17 | vs Melbourne | 2015 |
| 14 | Stephen Coniglio | Greater Western Sydney | 17 | vs St Kilda | 2015 |
| 15 | Gary Ablett | Gold Coast | 17 | vs Greater Western Sydney | 2015 |
| 16 | David Armitage | St Kilda | 17 | vs Fremantle | 2016 |
| 17 | Luke Parker | Sydney | 17 | vs Melbourne | 2016 |
| 18 | Scott Selwood | Geelong | 17 | vs Western Bulldogs | 2017 |
| 19 | Jack Steele | St Kilda | 17 | vs Fremantle | 2017 |
| 20 | Scott Selwood | Geelong | 17 | vs Port Adelaide | 2017 |
| 21 | Sam Powell-Pepper | Port Adelaide | 17 | vs Melbourne | 2018 |
| 22 | Sam Berry | Adelaide | 17 | vs Collingwood | 2022 |
| 23 | Tom Atkins | Geelong | 17 | vs Adelaide | 2022 |
| 24 | Brad Crouch | St Kilda | 17 | vs West Coast | 2023 |
| 25 | Matt Rowell | Gold Coast | 17 | vs West Coast | 2023 |
| 26 | Matt Rowell | Gold Coast | 17 | vs Essendon | 2025 |
| 27 | Tom Atkins | Geelong | 17 | vs Richmond | 2025 |
| 28 | Jared Brennan | Brisbane Lions | 16 | vs Essendon | 2009 |
| 29 | Jimmy Bartel | Geelong | 16 | vs St Kilda | 2009 |
| 30 | James Kelly | Geelong | 16 | vs Sydney | 2012 |
| 31 | Mark Hutchings | West Coast | 16 | vs Fremantle | 2013 |
| 32 | Jack Viney | Melbourne | 16 | vs Western Bulldogs | 2016 |
| 33 | Liam Shiels | Hawthorn | 16 | vs Richmond | 2016 |
| 34 | Tom Liberatore | Western Bulldogs | 16 | vs Sydney | 2017 |
| 35 | Brad Crouch | Adelaide | 16 | vs Gold Coast | 2019 |
| 36 | Elliot Yeo | West Coast | 16 | vs Melbourne | 2019 |
| 37 | Hugh Greenwood | Gold Coast | 16 | vs Geelong | 2021 |
| 38 | Callum Mills | Sydney | 16 | vs Western Bulldogs | 2022 |
| 39 | Rory Laird | Adelaide | 16 | vs Brisbane Lions | 2023 |
| 40 | Willem Drew | Port Adelaide | 16 | vs Collingwood | 2023 |
| 41 | Reuben Ginbey | West Coast | 16 | vs Gold Coast | 2023 |
| 42 | James Rowbottom | Sydney | 16 | vs Carlton | 2024 |
| 43 | Corey Wagner | Fremantle | 16 | vs St Kilda | 2025 |
| 44 | Jack Viney | Melbourne | 16 | vs St Kilda | 2025 |
| 45 | Jack Steele | Melbourne | 16 | vs Carlton | 2026 |
| 46 | Luke Ball | St Kilda | 15 | vs Geelong | 2004 |
| 47 | Max Rooke | Geelong | 15 | vs Sydney | 2005 |
| 48 | James McDonald | Melbourne | 15 | vs Fremantle | 2006 |
| 49 | Daniel Harris | Kangaroos | 15 | vs Hawthorn | 2007 |
| 50 | Domenic Cassisi | Port Adelaide | 15 | vs West Coast | 2009 |
Era note: tackles only enter the AFL Tables box score in 1987 — games before that season can't appear here no matter what happened in them, because the stat wasn't recorded. That's a limit of the historical record, not of this list.
More AFL records
Most goals in a single AFL gameMost disposals in a single AFL gameMost marks in a single AFL gameMost hit-outs in a single AFL gameMost career goals in VFL/AFL historyMost career games in VFL/AFL historyMost career disposals in VFL/AFL historyMost goals in a single AFL seasonMost career Brownlow votesThe biggest winning margins in VFL/AFL historyThe highest team scores in VFL/AFL historyThe longest winning streaks in VFL/AFL history
Every list on these pages is computed directly from the box scores of all 17,018 VFL/AFL matches in our database — see the data and our methodology.