Captain - Coach: Percy Beames
Finishing Position: 7th
Best and Fairest: Don Cordner
Leading Goalkicker: Fred Fanning (62)
Best First Year Player: n/a
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Tribunal | Seconds | |
Exiled from the MCG, and with many players serving in the war, Melbourne had done well to win five games in 1942. Down to just seven of their 1941 premiership side, things looked grim for the Demons when they sat last after Round 6. The last placed club would be eliminated from the season after Round 11 but the Demons won their next four to finish well clear of last, with St Kilda being excluded from the last five rounds.
Their eventual seventh placed finish was a credit to Percy Beames, who had to debut 18 players during the year, with 11 retired due to wartime restrictions and health problems. In February, 23 Melbourne players were serving in the conflict, leading to a player shortage that left Beames with 13 players unavailable for selection in one game. A five match winning streak helped lift them to mid-table, but Melbourne were forced to debut another 18 players during the year and 11 more retired due to wartime restrictions and health problems. In one game they had 13 players unavailable for selection, but were only a game and percentage outside the four after Round 12. Three consecutive losses from there left them out of contention.
Round 12 games were pushed back a week for a four team Lightning Premiership. Melbourne did not play, giving them two weeks off after a Round 11 bye where they'd played an exhibition game against the Ballarat League.
Melbourne's VFL delegates were Joe Blair and Bruce Hogg.
The club had receipts of £1693 for the year, with expenses of £1925.
Practice match
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Hawthorn | WIN | 101-52 | |||
Premiership season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Fitzroy | LOSS | 96-99 | ||
| 2 | South Melbourne | WIN | 109-86 | ||
| 3 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 72-117 | ||
| 4 | North Melbourne | LOSS | 71-104 | ||
| 5 | Richmond | LOSS | 113-141 | ||
| 6 | Footscray | LOSS | 63-143 | ||
| 7 | Carlton | WIN | 92-87 | ||
| 8 | Collingwood | WIN | 87-81 | ||
| 9 | St. Kilda | WIN | 110-82 | ||
| 10 | Essendon | WIN | 85-70 | ||
| 11 | BYE | ||||
| 12 | Footscray | WIN | 154-74 | ||
| 13 | South Melbourne | LOSS | 60-139 | ||
| 14 | Fitzroy | LOSS | 54-104 | ||
| 15 | Richmond | LOSS | 85-109 | ||
| 16 | Collingwood | WIN | 113-101 | ||
Exhibition match
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Ballarat League | WIN | 156-63 | |||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Richmond | 10 | 0 | 5 | 123.1 | 44 |
| Essendon | 10 | 0 | 5 | 115.2 | 44 |
| Fitzroy | 10 | 0 | 5 | 109.0 | 44 |
| Carlton | 9 | 0 | 6 | 125.0 | 40 |
| Hawthorn | 9 | 0 | 6 | 103.9 | 40 |
| Footscray | 7 | 0 | 8 | 93.6 | 32 |
| Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 8 | 88.7 | 32 |
| South Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 9 | 105.8 | 28 |
| North Melbourne | 5 | 1 | 9 | 77.0 | 26 |
| Collingwood | 5 | 0 | 10 | 89.6 | 24 |
| St. Kilda | 1 | 1 | 8 | 73.9 | 10 |
Playing list
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Don Hooper | 3 | 3 | ||
| 1 | Ken Shadbolt | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2 | Roy Dowsing | 15 | 5 | ||
| 3 | Keith Molloy | 4 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Ron Irwin | 1 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Norm Smith | 12 | 11 | ||
| 5 | Billy Deans | 13 | 6 | ||
| 6 | Fred Fanning | 15 | 62 | ||
| 7 | Bob Stone | 2 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Don Hewson | 9 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Richie Emselle | 4 | 0 | ||
| 10 | Maurie Gibb | 13 | 9 | ||
| 11 | Norm Matthews | 2 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Jack Mueller | 1 | 4 | ||
| 14 | George Archibald | 12 | 3 | ||
| 15 | Colin Bradley | 9 | 0 | ||
| 16 | Hughie McPherson | 15 | 8 | ||
| 17 | Denis Cordner | 1 | 2 | ||
| 17 | Frank Deayton | 7 | 2 | ||
| 18 | Darcy Walsh | 8 | 0 | ||
| 18 | Bill Scanlan | 1 | 2 | ||
| 20 | Bob Herbert | 14 | 25 | ||
| 21 | Don Cordner | 15 | 2 | ||
| 22 | Tom Ferguson | 9 | 7 | ||
| 23 | Jack Doherty | 7 | 0 | ||
| 24 | Percy Beames | 14 | 8 | ||
| 25 | Doug Heywood | 5 | 7 | ||
| 26 | Frank Scanlan | 4 | 0 | ||
| 26 | Ron Hobba | 8 | 0 | ||
| 27 | Ralph Shalless | 3 | 3 | ||
| 28 | Ted Cordner | 11 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Jack Minnis | 10 | 5 | ||
| 30 | Alby Rodda | 3 | 2 | ||
| 31 | Ken Levey | 10 | 2 | ||
| 32 | Ron Marshall | 2 | 0 | ||
| 33 | Johnny Dalton | 2 | 2 | ||
| 34 | Adrian Dullard | 8 | 18 | ||
| 35 | Charlie Newman | 4 | 0 | ||
| 36 | Bryan Martin | 2 | 0 | ||
| 36 | Ernie Hart | 1 | 0 | ||
| 38 | Ron White | 3 | 0 | ||
| 38 | Harden Dean | 1 | 0 | ||
Awards
Best clubman - (Billy Deans))
Most serviceable player - George Archibald
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 1 | Jack Mueller | Abusive Language | 4 matches | ||
Seconds
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| St Kilda | 12 | 2 | 2 | 167.6 | 52 |
| Fitzroy | 13 | 0 | 3 | 160.7 | 52 |
| Collingwood | 12 | 1 | 3 | 140.0 | 50 |
| South Melbourne | 11 | 0 | 5 | 103.6 | 44 |
| Richmond | 9 | 1 | 6 | 102.8 | 38 |
| Essendon | 9 | 0 | 7 | 91.9 | 36 |
| Carlton | 7 | 0 | 9 | 81.4 | 28 |
| North Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 9 | 73.7 | 28 |
| Footscray | 6 | 0 | 10 | 81.6 | 24 |
| Melbourne | 5 | 0 | 11 | 85.2 | 20 |
| Hawthorn | 3 | 0 | 13 | 72.4 | 12 |
Notes
Football Record shows Jack Minnis as #31, but official club sources show him as #29. By Round 4 he was shown as having no official number. In Round 10 he was shown as #29.
Football Record also shows Alby Rodda as wearing #31 in Round 4, but this unlikely as he had the same number throughout his whole career.
Record shows Frank Scanlan as #13. All other records, including official club records, show him as #26.
An exhibition match may have been played in Healesville in October.
Media
Sun - 25/02/1943
Herald - 03/09/1943, 07/02/1944 -
Argus - 08/02/1944