Coach: John Beckwith
Captain: Hassa Mann
Finishing Position: 8th
Best and Fairest: Ray Groom
Leading Goalkicker: Hassa Mann (29)
Best First Year Player: Greg Parke
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Night Series | Best and Fairest | Reserves | Under 19s |
John Beckwith took over as coach to replace Norm Smith. He had already coached a game and a half the year before when Smith was struck with chest pains. Smith, and his son Peter walked away from the club when the coach lost a bid to be elected to the club committee.
The VFL introduced a controversial regional zoning plan which caused country leagues to go to a vote on whether or not to disaffiliate from the major league. Clubs had long been assigned recruiting areas within the Melbourne metropolitan area, but were now assigned one of 12 zones within Victoria and the Riverina area of New South Wales. In a random draw, Melbourne ended up with the Goulburn Valley League, considered a solid but not outstanding breeding ground for talent. They also ended with smaller leagues Kyabram, Picola, Riddell, Echuca, Tungamah, and Benalla. A decade later, when the zone carve up was being blamed for Melbourne's poor status, then Secretary Jim Cardwell said the vote was only carried on the club's vote. He said the club put $100,000 into the Goulburn Valley area but hadn't found a star in 10 years.
The league caused further controversy when a radical new plan for distribution of gate receipts led to the board which controlled most of Melbourne's suburban grounds to threaten a lockout of teams. Jim Cardwell said that if the Demons were unable to play on the MCG they would be forced to go into recess as the committee would not play elsewhere. The matter was sorted out in time for the first bounce of the season and the competition continued unhindered.
The Fourths went through the season undefeated.
Melbourne's VFL delegates were Arthur King and Tom Trumble. Lord Mayor RTA Talbot was Club Patron
Practice Matches
| Opposition | Result | |||||
| Port Adelaide | WIN | |||||
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | ||||
| 1 | Fitzroy | WIN | ||||
| 2 | St. Kilda | LOSS | ||||
| 3 | South Melbourne | WIN | ||||
| 4 | North Melbourne | WIN | ||||
| 5 | Geelong | LOSS | ||||
| 6 | Footscray | LOSS | ||||
| 7 | Hawthorn | WIN | ||||
| 8 | Collingwood | WIN | ||||
| 9 | Richmond | LOSS | ||||
| 10 | Essendon | LOSS | ||||
| 11 | Carlton | LOSS | ||||
| 12 | Fitzroy | WIN | ||||
| 13 | St. Kilda | LOSS | ||||
| 14 | South Melbourne | LOSS | ||||
| 15 | North Melbourne | WIN | ||||
| 16 | Geelong | LOSS | ||||
| 17 | Footscray | WIN | ||||
| 18 | Hawthorn | LOSS | ||||
| 19 | Collingwood | LOSS | ||||
| 20 | Richmond | LOSS | ||||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | ||
| Essendon | 16 | 1 | 3 | 130.3 | 66 | |
| Carlton | 15 | 0 | 5 | 130.4 | 60 | |
| Geelong | 15 | 0 | 5 | 106.8 | 60 | |
| St. Kilda | 14 | 1 | 5 | 136.0 | 58 | |
| Richmond | 14 | 0 | 6 | 123.0 | 56 | |
| Hawthorn | 9 | 1 | 10 | 103.5 | 38 | |
| Collingwood | 9 | 0 | 11 | 94.5 | 36 | |
| Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 12 | 83.9 | 32 | |
| South Melbourne | 6 | 1 | 13 | 83.9 | 26 | |
| Footscray | 5 | 0 | 15 | 82.6 | 20 | |
| Fitzroy | 4 | 0 | 16 | 80.7 | 16 | |
| North Melbourne | 3 | 0 | 17 | 74.3 | 12 | |
Exhibition Matches
| Opposition | Result | |||||
| Broken Hill League | WIN | |||||
Playing List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | |||
| 1 | Max Walker | 16 | 14 | |||
| 2 | Rob Dowsing | 7 | 0 | |||
| 3 | Sid Catlin | 1 | 0 | |||
| 4 | Tony Sullivan | 6 | 0 | |||
| 6 | Frank Davis | 16 | 0 | |||
| 7 | Graham Osborne | 17 | 10 | |||
| 8 | Tassie Johnson | 19 | 1 | |||
| 9 | Brian Dixon | 19 | 2 | |||
| 11 | Tony Anderson | 13 | 0 | |||
| 12 | Chris Fowler | 15 | 3 | |||
| 14 | Barry Bourke | 12 | 4 | |||
| 15 | Stan Alves | 18 | 20 | |||
| 16 | John Townsend | 16 | 15 | |||
| 17 | Kelvin Clarke | 2 | 5 | |||
| 18 | Neville Stone | 5 | 0 | |||
| 21 | Ted Lees | 6 | 7 | |||
| 22 | Bryan Kenneally | 19 | 7 | |||
| 23 | Brian Roet | 18 | 0 | |||
| 24 | Ross Dillon | 7 | 13 | |||
| 25 | Peter Weekes | 3 | 2 | |||
| 25 | Geoff Whitton | 5 | 0 | |||
| 26 | Greg Parke | 17 | 17 | |||
| 27 | John Forster | 5 | 0 | |||
| 28 | Derek Feldmann | 18 | 1 | |||
| 29 | Hassa Mann | 18 | 29 | |||
| 31 | Ray Groom | 19 | 0 | |||
| 32 | Barrie Vagg | 19 | 21 | |||
| 33 | Gary Hardeman | 17 | 21 | |||
| 34 | Brent Jones | 15 | 1 | |||
| 35 | Don Williams | 3 | 0 | |||
| 36 | Ken Osborne | 5 | 5 | |||
| 37 | Darryl Schwarz | 2 | 0 | |||
| 38 | Denis Clark | 5 | 1 | |||
| 39 | George Lakes | 9 | 1 | |||
| 40 | Ray Biffin | 5 | 2 | |||
| 41 | Euan Campbell | 1 | 0 | |||
| 44 | Phil Rhoden | 1 | 0 | |||
| 49 | Graeme Aubrey | 1 | 2 | |||
Golden Fleece Night Series
| Round | Opposition | Result | ||||
| 1 | Hawthorn | LOSS | ||||
Best and Fairest
| Player | ||||||
| 1st | Ray Groom | |||||
| 2nd | Tassie Johnson | |||||
| 3rd | Hassa Mann | |||||
| 4th | Greg Parke | |||||
| 5th | Brian Dixon | |||||
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | |||
| Round 13 Under 19s | Ray Sampson | Striking | Unknown | |||
| Round 16 Reserves | Bob Langford | Unduly rough play | Unknown | |||
| Round 19, 1968 Under 19s | Michael Stanton | Disputing decision with abusive language | Unknown | |||
Reserves
Best and Fairest - Darryl Schwarz
Second Best and Fairest - Sid Catlin
Outstanding Service - Bob Langford, Phil Rhoden
| W | D | L | % | P | ||
| Richmond | 15 | 1 | 4 | 154.1 | 62 | |
| Essendon | 15 | 0 | 5 | 117.8 | 60 | |
| Collingwood | 11 | 1 | 8 | 113.9 | 46 | |
| Hawthorn | 11 | 1 | 8 | 89.1 | 46 | |
| St Kilda | 10 | 1 | 9 | 108.7 | 42 | |
| Geelong | 9 | 1 | 10 | 92.0 | 38 | |
| Melbourne | 8 | 1 | 11 | 83.3 | 34 | |
| Carlton | 8 | 0 | 12 | 101.8 | 32 | |
| North Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 12 | 96.4 | 32 | |
| Footscray | 8 | 0 | 12 | 89.4 | 32 | |
| Fitzroy | 8 | 0 | 12 | 89.3 | 32 | |
| South Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 14 | 82.0 | 24 | |
Under 19s
Under 19s Best and Fairest - Paul Callery
Second Best and Fairest - Danny Jennings
Leading Goalkicker - Paul Callery
Best Clubman - D. Gough
Outstanding Service - Michael Stanton, A. Jenkin
| W | D | L | % | P | ||
| Richmond | 19 | 0 | 1 | 171.3 | 76 | |
| Footscray | 17 | 0 | 3 | 158.7 | 68 | |
| Fitzroy | 13 | 0 | 7 | 128.0 | 52 | |
| Collingwood | 13 | 0 | 7 | 109.4 | 52 | |
| Essendon | 12 | 0 | 8 | 114.3 | 48 | |
| Melbourne | 11 | 0 | 9 | 101.4 | 44 | |
| St Kilda | 10 | 0 | 10 | 94.2 | 40 | |
| Carlton | 8 | 0 | 12 | 83.4 | 32 | |
| Geelong | 5 | 0 | 15 | 100.3 | 20 | |
| Hawthorn | 5 | 0 | 15 | 76.4 | 20 | |
| South Melbourne | 3 | 1 | 16 | 69.8 | 14 | |
| North Melbourne | 3 | 1 | 16 | 62.7 | 14 | |
Fourths
Best and Fairest - Jim Theodore
Best and Fairest - P. Etheredge
Outstanding Service - Warren Tassell and T. Roberts
Best Clubman - Graeme Aubrey
Best in Finals - D. Nish
Notes
Some sources show Stan Alves finishing fourth in the Best and Fairest.
Media
Age - 19/03/1968
Herald - 18/07/1978
Links
Footystats Diary