Captain - Coach: Ivor Warne-Smith
Finishing Position: 5th
Best and Fairest: n/a
Leading Goalkicker: George Margitich (73)
Best First Year Player: n/a
Members: 1971
| Matches | Ladder | Playing list | Seconds | ||
After a fifth place finish in 1929, Melbourne's recruiting drive landed them South Australian forward George Margitich, four ruckmen, two rovers, two other forwards and a centreman. Margitich kicked 73 goals but the club finished fifth again. Another end of season fadeout cost them, losing their last three games to miss out on percentage. Victory over 10th placed Hawthorn in the last round would have been enough but they fell short again.
Committee nominations were GG Coulter, RB Hogg, FW Ince, CH Lilley, FH Mendoza, H. Parkin, JO Smith, GH Watson, JA Henty Wilson. W. Berry, AC Bruce and G. Sleight nominated to represent club members. Ince, Parkin, Coulter, Henty-Wilson, Lilley, Mendoz and JO Smith were elected to general committee, with Sleight and Berry representing members.
The VFL introduced a '19th man' reserve who could be substituted into the game to replace an injured player. They also introduced player payment laws, capping wages at £3 a week and banning lump sum payments to new players. VFA clubs signed more than 90 ex-league players, but most were veterans or discards. An amendment to the holding the ball rule was dropped before Round 12, again allowing players to drop the ball when tackled without penalty. Baseball matches were played as curtain raisers to VFL games throughout the year.
In June, the club was criticised by the league for not providing better protection for visiting teams between the ground and dressing rooms. Melbourne's claims that it was architecturally impossible to construct tunnels between the dressing rooms and ground were rejected.
The Seconds played an exhibition match against the Peninsula Football League on 27 September as part of their end of season trip.
The club had 2813/6/6 receipts against 4167/14/6 expenditure.
Premiership season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | South Melbourne | WIN | 95-70 | ||
| 2 | Geelong | WIN | 100-63 | ||
| 3 | Fitzroy | WIN | 104-99 | ||
| 4 | North Melbourne | WIN | 123-102 | ||
| 5 | Footscray | WIN | 120-62 | ||
| 6 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 67-76 | ||
| 7 | Collingwood | LOSS | 79-97 | ||
| 8 | Carlton | WIN | 72-70 | ||
| 9 | Essendon | WIN | 114-88 | ||
| 10 | Richmond | LOSS | 52-104 | ||
| 11 | Hawthorn | WIN | 82-41 | ||
| 12 | Footscray | WIN | 61-58 | ||
| 13 | St. Kilda | WIN | 82-65 | ||
| 14 | Collingwood | LOSS | 57-104 | ||
| 15 | Carlton | WIN | 83-77 | ||
| 16 | Essendon | LOSS | 79-89 | ||
| 17 | Richmond | LOSS | 62-86 | ||
| 18 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 77-90 | ||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Collingwood | 15 | 0 | 3 | 144.3 | 60 |
| Carlton | 15 | 0 | 3 | 141.6 | 60 |
| Richmond | 11 | 0 | 7 | 124.7 | 44 |
| Geelong | 11 | 0 | 7 | 118.7 | 44 |
| Melbourne | 11 | 0 | 7 | 104.7 | 44 |
| Essendon | 10 | 0 | 8 | 105.5 | 40 |
| South Melbourne | 9 | 0 | 9 | 100.0 | 36 |
| St. Kilda | 8 | 0 | 10 | 101.3 | 32 |
| Fitzroy | 7 | 0 | 11 | 89.2 | 28 |
| Hawthorn | 6 | 0 | 12 | 77.3 | 24 |
| Footscray | 4 | 0 | 14 | 75.8 | 16 |
| North Melbourne | 1 | 0 | 17 | 51.8 | 4 |
Playing List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Stan Wittman | 15 | 13 | ||
| 2 | Wyn Murray | 18 | 0 | ||
| 3 | George Margitich | 17 | 73 | ||
| 4 | Jimmy Abernethy | 12 | 4 | ||
| 5 | Hec Davidson | 12 | 5 | ||
| 6 | Ted Esposito | 8 | 6 | ||
| 7 | Norman Driver | 2 | 0 | ||
| 10 | Jack Collins | 16 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Jack Power | 1 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Ivor Warne-Smith | 17 | 23 | ||
| 15 | Harry Crapper | 7 | 7 | ||
| 16 | Robert C Johnson | 16 | 27 | ||
| 17 | Bill MacDonald | 14 | 0 | ||
| 18 | Bill Cutler | 15 | 6 | ||
| 19 | Edwin Pemberton | 16 | 3 | ||
| 20 | Harry Long | 14 | 7 | ||
| 21 | Bill Vanthoff | 12 | 12 | ||
| 22 | Reg Conole | 8 | 2 | ||
| 23 | Francis Vine | 9 | 3 | ||
| 24 | Colin Jackson | 2 | 0 | ||
| 26 | Bill Tymms | 13 | 0 | ||
| 28 | Webber Jackson | 9 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Jimmy Davidson | 18 | 6 | ||
| 30 | Howard Steel | 4 | 1 | ||
| 31 | Col Deane | 4 | 0 | ||
| 32 | Gordon Ogden | 13 | 0 | ||
| 33 | Geoff Frood | 1 | 2 | ||
| 34 | Ray Usher | 16 | 1 | ||
| 35 | Richard Taylor | 18 | 11 | ||
| 37 | George Cassidy | 5 | 0 | ||
| 38 | Jim Moodie | 9 | 0 | ||
| 39 | Lew Gough | 1 | 0 | ||
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 6 | Wyn Murray | Elbowing | Not Guilty | ||
| Round 15 | Bill Cutler | Striking | 8 matches | ||
| Round 15 | Bill Cutler | Attempted Striking | 4 matches | ||
| Round 15 | Bill Cutler | Attempted Striking | Not Guilty | ||
| Round 17 | Jack Collins | Time Wasting | 1 match | ||
Seconds
| W | D | L | P | ||
| Geelong | 18 | 0 | 0 | 72 | |
| Collingwood | 12 | 1 | 5 | 50 | |
| Essendon | 12 | 0 | 6 | 48 | |
| Richmond | 12 | 0 | 6 | 48 | |
| Fitzroy | 11 | 0 | 7 | 44 | |
| St Kilda | 9 | 1 | 8 | 38 | |
| South Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 10 | 32 | |
| Hawthorn | 7 | 0 | 11 | 28 | |
| Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 12 | 24 | |
| Carlton | 6 | 0 | 12 | 24 | |
| Footscray | 5 | 0 | 13 | 20 | |
| North Melbourne | 1 | 0 | 17 | 4 | |
Notes
Francis Vine is shown wearing #22 in the R3 Football Record
Bill Tymms is shown wearing #27 in the R3 and R18 Football Record
Howard Steel is shown wearing #9 in the R18 Football Record
Media
Argus - 18/12/1929, 30/01/1930
Sun - 16/01/1930. 30/01/1930, 28/06/1930, Sun - 13/02/1931
Sporting Globe - 02/04/1930