Coach: Frank Hughes
Captain: Norm Smith
Finishing Position: 4th (Lost Grand Final)
Best and Fairest: Jack Mueller
Leading Goalkicker: Jack Mueller (58)
Best First Year Player: Len Dockett
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Best and Fairest | Seconds | Thirds |
The Demons - still stuck at Punt Road even though the war had ended - welcomed back premiership players Ted Cordner, Gerry Daly, Dick Hingston, Wally Lock, Shane McGrath and Alby Rodda as they started to return to normal peacetime playing conditions. Hingston, Daly, Ellis, Dullard, Rodda, Mueller, Murnane and Furniss also returned after military service. They were forced to train at the Albert Ground, which had limited dressing room facilities and meant the group had to split in two.
The league introduced a second substitute (20th man) who could replace any of the starting 18. The Thirds were also introduced. Additionally the Provident Fund was introduced to raise money for players when they retired.
The round 17 clash against Hawthorn was the first match at the MCG since the 1941 Grand Final.
On Thursday 19 September, Melbourne's finals team played a practice game on the MCG against the rest of the list plus three players loaned from Richmond and amateur clubs.
Don Cordner won the Brownlow Medal but lost the club's Best and Fairest to Jack Mueller who only scored a single Brownlow vote.
Melbourne's VFL delegates were Joe Blair (until his passing in September) and Bruce Hogg.
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | |||
| 1 | Geelong | WIN | |||
| 2 | Carlton | WIN | |||
| 3 | Essendon | LOSS | |||
| 4 | South Melbourne | WIN | |||
| 5 | Footscray | LOSS | |||
| 6 | Hawthorn | LOSS | |||
| 7 | Fitzroy | LOSS | |||
| 8 | North Melbourne | LOSS | |||
| 9 | St. Kilda | WIN | |||
| 10 | Richmond | WIN | |||
| 11 | Collingwood | WIN | |||
| 12 | Geelong | WIN | |||
| 13 | Carlton | WIN | |||
| 14 | Essendon | WIN | |||
| 15 | South Melbourne | LOSS | |||
| 16 | Footscray | WIN | |||
| 17 | Hawthorn | WIN | |||
| 18 | Fitzroy | WIN | |||
| 19 | North Melbourne | WIN | |||
| SF | Footscray | WIN | |||
| PF | Collingwood | WIN | |||
| GF | Essendon | LOSS | |||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Essendon | 15 | 0 | 4 | 140.7 | 60 |
| Collingwood | 13 | 0 | 6 | 125.2 | 52 |
| Footscray | 13 | 0 | 6 | 117.8 | 52 |
| Melbourne | 13 | 0 | 6 | 104.8 | 52 |
| Richmond | 11 | 0 | 8 | 115.8 | 44 |
| Carlton | 11 | 0 | 8 | 102.1 | 44 |
| South Melbourne | 10 | 0 | 9 | 106.5 | 40 |
| Fitzroy | 9 | 0 | 10 | 118.7 | 36 |
| North Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 11 | 91.2 | 32 |
| Geelong | 4 | 0 | 15 | 70.9 | 16 |
| St. Kilda | 4 | 0 | 15 | 70.0 | 16 |
| Hawthorn | 3 | 0 | 16 | 70.5 | 12 |
Exhibition Match
| Opposition | Result | ||||
| Gippsland League | ? | ||||
Playing List
| Number | Name | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Ern Rowarth | 7 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Roy Dowsing | 14 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Ron Irwin | 13 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Norm Smith | 19 | 33 | ||
| 5 | Billy Deans | 22 | 3 | ||
| 6 | Fred Fanning | 20 | 56 | ||
| 7 | Clem Conroy | 1 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Roy Stabb | 9 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Ivan Porter | 4 | 2 | ||
| 10 | Lance Arnold | 4 | 1 | ||
| 11 | Gordon Bowman | 19 | 3 | ||
| 12 | Jack Mueller | 22 | 58 | ||
| 14 | Ron Hall | 8 | 2 | ||
| 15 | Jack Quinn | 6 | 5 | ||
| 16 | George Bickford | 18 | 3 | ||
| 17 | Frank Kennedy | 15 | 1 | ||
| 18 | Wally Lock | 15 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Bill Scanlan | 7 | 2 | ||
| 20 | Norm Wilson | 3 | 9 | ||
| 21 | Don Cordner | 22 | 2 | ||
| 22 | Shane McGrath | 20 | 2 | ||
| 23 | Ted Cordner | 19 | 0 | ||
| 24 | Dick Kennedy | 4 | 6 | ||
| 25 | Col McLean | 20 | 0 | ||
| 26 | Ralph Shalless | 1 | 0 | ||
| 27 | Gerry Daly | 3 | 1 | ||
| 27 | Ernie O'Rourke | 14 | 28 | ||
| 28 | Adrian Dullard | 11 | 14 | ||
| 29 | Harry Rowe | 1 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Alf Copsey | 5 | 0 | ||
| 30 | Alby Rodda | 16 | 19 | ||
| 31 | Stan Rule | 18 | 3 | ||
| 32 | Dick Hingston | 3 | 0 | ||
| 32 | Len Dockett | 18 | 4 | ||
| 34 | Arnold Byfield | 18 | 10 | ||
| 35 | Noel McMahen | 3 | 0 | ||
| 36 | Des Bell | 5 | 2 | ||
| 37 | Jim Mitchell | 13 | 18 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | |||||
| 1st | Jack Mueller | ||||
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 7 | Alby Rodda | Striking | Not Guilty | ||
| Round 9 | Roy Stabb | Striking | 4 matches | ||
| Round 9 | Alby Rodda | Attempted Striking | 4 matches | ||
| Round 13 | Billy Deans | Charging | Not Guilty | ||
| GF | Frank Kennedy | Striking | 4 matches | ||
| GF | Adrian Dullard | Kneeing | Not Guilty | ||
Other awards
Best clubman - Norm Smith
Best all-round player - Jim Mitchell
Most brilliant - Donald Cordner
Most unselfish - Shane McGrath
Most tenacious - Ted Cordner
Most determined - Wally Lock
Most improved - George Bickford and Stan Rule
Seconds
1946 Seconds season
Captain - H. Gray
Vice Captain - Ralph Shalless
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Richmond | 17 | 0 | 2 | 149.3 | 68 |
| Fitzroy | 16 | 0 | 3 | 157.9 | 64 |
| Collingwood | 16 | 0 | 3 | 147.2 | 64 |
| Melbourne | 13 | 0 | 6 | 129.1 | 52 |
| South Melbourne | 11 | 1 | 7 | 95.8 | 46 |
| Carlton | 8 | 0 | 11 | 95.3 | 32 |
| Essendon | 8 | 0 | 11 | 91.8 | 32 |
| St Kilda | 7 | 1 | 11 | 91.6 | 30 |
| Footscray | 7 | 0 | 12 | 98.0 | 28 |
| Geelong | 7 | 0 | 12 | 76.9 | 28 |
| North Melbourne | 2 | 1 | 16 | 67.1 | 10 |
| Hawthorn | 0 | 1 | 18 | 55.9 | 2 |
Finals
| Round | Opposition | Result | |||
| SF | Collingwood | LOSS | |||
Thirds
| P | |||||
| Melbourne | 44 | ||||
| North Melbourne | 40 | ||||
| Carlton | 32 | ||||
| Essendon | 28 | ||||
| Richmond | 16 | ||||
| St Kilda | 8 | ||||
| Hawthorn | 4 | ||||
Finals
| Round | Opposition | Result | |||
| SF | North Melbourne | LOSS | |||
| PF | Carlton | LOSS | |||
Media
Herald - 18/04/1946
Herald - 18/09/1946
Age - 21/11/1946
Links
Membership image courtesy of grandoldflag.net