Coach: Checker Hughes
Captain: Norm Smith
Finishing Position: 6th
Best and Fairest: Wally Lock
Leading Goalkicker: Fred Fanning (97)
Best First Year Player: Eddie Jackson
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Tribunal | Seconds | Thirds |
Melbourne permanently returned to the MCG after five years at Punt Road, but after making the Grand Final in 1946, they fell out of the top four again.
For the first time the club appointed a metropolitan recruiting officer, tasked with finding talent from the club's district covering Prahran, South Yarra, parts of Glen Iris, Bentleigh, Ormond and Oakleigh.
A pre-season practice match against North Melbourne was cancelled because the VFL would not approve the match. Early in the season the club tried to organise a game in Broken Hill for Wednesday 30 July, but the locals rejected the offer as they deemed a mid-week game unsuitable.
A six game winning streak early in the season was cancelled by losing six in a row, as a top-heavy side of tall forwards struggled with wet and windy conditions. By the time they regained their form, the Demons were too far out of the running. They won their last four matches but finished one win outside the four. In the last game of the season, Fred Fanning set the all-time league record for goals in a game by kicking 18.
The Thirds won their first premiership.
Melbourne's VFL delegates were Bill Flintoft and Bruce Hogg. In July the club made a proposal to the MCC that a full-time Secretary be appointed for the first time.
Practice match
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Carlton | WIN | Unknown | |||
Premiership season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Carlton | LOSS | 109-122 | ||
| 2 | Geelong | WIN | 109-73 | ||
| 3 | Fitzroy | LOSS | 83-92 | ||
| 4 | Richmond | WIN | 120-72 | ||
| 5 | Collingwood | WIN | 95-70 | ||
| 6 | Hawthorn | WIN | 81-66 | ||
| 7 | Footscray | WIN | 105-98 | ||
| 8 | St. Kilda | WIN | 105-43 | ||
| 9 | North Melbourne | WIN | 81-60 | ||
| 10 | South Melbourne | LOSS | 59-69 | ||
| 11 | Essendon | LOSS | 75-85 | ||
| 12 | Carlton | LOSS | 64-69 | ||
| 13 | Geelong | LOSS | 46-107 | ||
| 14 | Fitzroy | LOSS | 52-74 | ||
| 15 | Richmond | LOSS | 72-81 | ||
| 16 | Collingwood | WIN | 61-56 | ||
| 17 | Hawthorn | WIN | 99-93 | ||
| 18 | Footscray | WIN | 155-80 | ||
| 19 | St. Kilda | WIN | 171-78 | ||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Carlton | 15 | 0 | 4 | 134.0 | 60 |
| Essendon | 14 | 0 | 5 | 122.8 | 56 |
| Fitzroy | 13 | 0 | 6 | 126.7 | 52 |
| Richmond | 12 | 0 | 7 | 109.1 | 48 |
| Collingwood | 11 | 1 | 7 | 112.4 | 46 |
| Melbourne | 11 | 0 | 8 | 117.1 | 44 |
| Geelong | 11 | 0 | 8 | 103.3 | 44 |
| South Melbourne | 8 | 1 | 10 | 97.0 | 34 |
| Footscray | 8 | 1 | 10 | 96.1 | 34 |
| North Melbourne | 4 | 0 | 15 | 77.7 | 16 |
| Hawthorn | 4 | 0 | 15 | 76.4 | 16 |
| St. Kilda | 1 | 1 | 17 | 58.7 | 6 |
Exhibition matches
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Sunraysia League | WIN | 156-54 | |||
| Carlton | WIN | 116-76 | |||
Playing list
| Number | Name | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Ern Rowarth | 2 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Dave Newman | 4 | 1 | ||
| 3 | Ron Irwin | 3 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Norm Smith | 9 | 15 | ||
| 5 | Billy Deans | 19 | 1 | ||
| 6 | Fred Fanning | 16 | 97 | ||
| 7 | Eddie Jackson | 15 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Roy Stabb | 6 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Eddie Craddock | 1 | 1 | ||
| 10 | Lance Arnold | 19 | 13 | ||
| 11 | Gordon Bowman | 12 | 2 | ||
| 12 | Jack Mueller | 17 | 18 | ||
| 13 | Max Spittle | 6 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Ron Hall | 4 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Jack Furniss | 2 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Frank O'Connor | 17 | 22 | ||
| 16 | George Bickford | 12 | 2 | ||
| 17 | Frank Kennedy | 5 | 0 | ||
| 18 | Wally Lock | 18 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Bill Scanlan | 13 | 1 | ||
| 20 | Russ Robinson | 1 | 0 | ||
| 21 | Don Cordner | 19 | 1 | ||
| 22 | Shane McGrath | 17 | 0 | ||
| 24 | Frank Hanna | 11 | 0 | ||
| 25 | Col McLean | 18 | 0 | ||
| 27 | Ernie O'Rourke | 3 | 1 | ||
| 28 | Adrian Dullard | 19 | 21 | ||
| 30 | Alby Rodda | 18 | 23 | ||
| 31 | Stan Rule | 4 | 0 | ||
| 32 | Len Dockett | 17 | 7 | ||
| 33 | Des Bell | 1 | 1 | ||
| 34 | Frank Scanlan | 14 | 8 | ||
| 35 | Noel McMahen | 19 | 6 | ||
| 37 | Jim Mitchell | 17 | 8 | ||
| Dave Hardie | 2 | 0 | |||
Best and Fairest
| Player | Votes | ||||
| 1st | Wally Lock | ||||
Awards
Best clubman - Adrian Dullard
Most improved - Noel McMahen and Lance Arnold
Most dependable - Shane McGrath
Most determined - Billy Deans
Outstanding service - Alby Rodda
Seconds
Thirds
1947 Thirds season
Teams played an uneven number of matches, with all clubs except North Melbourne, Richmond, Carlton, Essendon and St Kilda having two byes each.
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Melbourne | 13 | 0 | 2 | 172.2 | 60 |
| North Melbourne | 13 | 0 | 3 | 160.9 | 56 |
| Richmond | 13 | 0 | 3 | 143.6 | 56 |
| Carlton | 10 | 0 | 6 | 161.7 | 44 |
| Geelong | 9 | 0 | 6 | 145.9 | 44 |
| Essendon | 10 | 0 | 6 | 122.0 | 44 |
| Fitzroy | 7 | 0 | 8 | 93.9 | 36 |
| Hawthorn | 6 | 0 | 9 | 77.0 | 32 |
| St Kilda | 2 | 0 | 14 | 53.1 | 12 |
| South Melbourne | 1 | 14 | 2 | 49.5 | 12 |
| North Essendon | 1 | 0 | 14 | 29.2 | 12 |
Finals
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| SF | North Melbourne | WIN | 76-72 | ||
| GF | North Melbourne | WIN | 85-73 | ||
Media
Age - 31/03/1947
Barrier Daily Truth - 07/05/1947
Herald - 23/05/1947
Sun - 30/07/1947
Argus - 24/09/1947