Coach: Ian Ridley
Captain: Frank Davis
Finishing Position: 8th
Best and Fairest: Stan Alves
Leading Goalkicker: Greg Parke (63)
Best First Year Player: Ross Brewer
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Best and Fairest | Reserves | Under 19s |
Coach Ian Ridley declared that the season's motto was "This Is It", and with the McIntyre Final Five system in play for the first time there was genuine hope that the club could makes its first finals series since 1964.
Despite the introduction of a final five seemingly suiting the Demons after their troubles of recent years the club actually voted against it. Only Collingwood and South Melbourne joined the Demons committee in opposing the move and it was passed by the requisite 3/4 majority of league clubs and adopted. The fact that there were now only seven teams not making the finals also meant that the Night Series competition was redundant, leaving the Demons the last ever champions under that format.
A pre-season trip to Sydney set the scene for the year. The players rose at 5.45am every morning for a two hour workout session on the beach before going to football 'school'.
The year saw the club make a substantial profit for the first time since 1956. A $7493.80 loss in 1971 was turned into a $8923.30 profit. This was achieved with the aid of almost $44,000 from finals ground hire payments.
Henry Bolte was club patron. Arthur King was Melbourne's VFL delegate.
Club zones were altered at the end of the year and Melbourne received the East and North wards of the City of Frankston.
Practice Matches
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Port Adelaide | WIN | 122-35 | |||
| Norwood | WIN | 169-99 | |||
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 75-104 | ||
| 2 | Footscray | LOSS | 84-105 | ||
| 3 | Collingwood | LOSS | 48-113 | ||
| 4 | South Melbourne | WIN | 127-56 | ||
| 5 | Richmond | LOSS | 84-89 | ||
| 6 | Essendon | WIN | 109-85 | ||
| 7 | Carlton | LOSS | 38-75 | ||
| 8 | Geelong | WIN | 134-101 | ||
| 9 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 36-73 | ||
| 10 | North Melbourne | WIN | 155-47 | ||
| 11 | Fitzroy | LOSS | 88-89 | ||
| 12 | Hawthorn | WIN | 76-75 | ||
| 13 | Footscray | WIN | 111-74 | ||
| 14 | South Melbourne | WIN | 93-69 | ||
| 15 | Collingwood | LOSS | 58-73 | ||
| 16 | Richmond | LOSS | 84-123 | ||
| 17 | Essendon | LOSS | 95-140 | ||
| 18 | Carlton | LOSS | 66-77 | ||
| 19 | Geelong | WIN | 142-85 | ||
| 20 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 89-90 | ||
| 21 | North Melbourne | WIN | 124-91 | ||
| 22 | Footscray | WIN | 127-95 | ||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Carlton | 18 | 1 | 3 | 134.3 | 74 |
| Richmond | 18 | 0 | 4 | 117.7 | 72 |
| Collingwood | 14 | 1 | 7 | 133 | 66 |
| St. Kilda | 14 | 0 | 8 | 115.6 | 56 |
| Essendon | 14 | 0 | 8 | 108.3 | 56 |
| Hawthorn | 13 | 0 | 9 | 111.1 | 52 |
| Footscray | 11 | 0 | 11 | 94.7 | 44 |
| Melbourne | 10 | 0 | 12 | 105.9 | 40 |
| Fitzroy | 9 | 0 | 13 | 96.8 | 36 |
| Geelong | 7 | 0 | 15 | 84.2 | 28 |
| South Melbourne | 2 | 0 | 20 | 65.1 | 8 |
| North Melbourne | 1 | 0 | 21 | 62.9 | 4 |
Playing List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Max Walker | 11 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Robert McKenzie | 8 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Trevor Rollinson | 6 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Tony Sullivan | 18 | 0 | ||
| 5 | John Gallus | 8 | 8 | ||
| 6 | Frank Davis | 21 | 0 | ||
| 7 | Graham Osborne | 13 | 7 | ||
| 8 | Peter Keenan | 16 | 13 | ||
| 9 | Peter Yeo | 3 | 1 | ||
| 9 | George Lakes | 2 | 0 | ||
| 10 | Lloyd Burgmann | 7 | 12 | ||
| 11 | Greg Wells | 22 | 34 | ||
| 12 | Mike Collins | 13 | 6 | ||
| 14 | Barry Bourke | 22 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Stan Alves | 21 | 22 | ||
| 16 | John Townsend | 12 | 9 | ||
| 17 | Denis Clark | 9 | 2 | ||
| 18 | John Tilbrook | 9 | 10 | ||
| 19 | Ray Biffin | 20 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Laurie Queay | 2 | 2 | ||
| 21 | Graham Molloy | 21 | 7 | ||
| 22 | Ray Carr | 4 | 11 | ||
| 23 | Peter Sinclair | 8 | 8 | ||
| 24 | Ross Dillon | 11 | 5 | ||
| 26 | Greg Parke | 20 | 63 | ||
| 27 | Ross Brewer | 17 | 15 | ||
| 29 | Noel Leary | 1 | 0 | ||
| 30 | John Letcher | 12 | 0 | ||
| 33 | Gary Hardeman | 21 | 10 | ||
| 34 | John Clennett | 17 | 13 | ||
| 35 | Paul Callery | 22 | 23 | ||
| 36 | Col Anderson | 2 | 0 | ||
| 37 | John Reid | 1 | 0 | ||
| 38 | Wayne Delmenico | 1 | 0 | ||
| 39 | Peter Dilnot | 1 | 0 | ||
| 41 | Stephen Kerley | 14 | 1 | ||
| 45 | Henry Ritterman | 12 | 4 | ||
| 46 | Geoff Harrold | 2 | 0 | ||
| 50 | Shane McSpeerin | 6 | 3 | ||
| 54 | Peter Williamson | 4 | 0 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | |||||
| 1st | Stan Alves | ||||
| 2nd | Greg Wells | ||||
| 3rd | Gary Hardeman | ||||
| 4th | Barry Bourke | ||||
| 5th | Paul Callery | ||||
| 6th | Greg Parke | ||||
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 13 Under 19s | Ron Thorneycroft | Attempted striking | ? | ||
| Round 19 | Ray Biffin | Striking | Not Guilty | ||
Reserves
1972 Reserves Season
Captain - Ross Dillon
Vice Captain - Denis Clark
Best and Fairest - Denis Clark
Second Best and Fairest - John Gallus
Outstanding Service - Henry Ritterman, Ross Dillon, John Cumming
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Hawthorn | 19 | 1 | 2 | 154.1 | 78 |
| Richmond | 17 | 0 | 5 | 138.0 | 68 |
| Melbourne | 17 | 0 | 5 | 134.5 | 68 |
| Essendon | 15 | 1 | 6 | 125.3 | 62 |
| Carlton | 14 | 0 | 8 | 106.7 | 56 |
| Geelong | 13 | 0 | 9 | 123.3 | 52 |
| Footscray | 13 | 0 | 9 | 103.0 | 52 |
| South Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 14 | 92.3 | 32 |
| Collingwood | 7 | 0 | 15 | 85.6 | 28 |
| St Kilda | 5 | 0 | 17 | 70.5 | 20 |
| North Melbourne | 2 | 0 | 20 | 55.8 | 8 |
| Fitzroy | 1 | 0 | 21 | 62.8 | 4 |
Finals
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| QF | Richmond | WIN | 81-68 | ||
| SF | Hawthorn | WIN | 94-62 | ||
| GF | Hawthorn | LOSS | 84-88 | ||
Under 19s
Captain - Louis Tesoriero
Vice-Captain - Russell Macdonald
Best and Fairest - Frank Giampaolo
Second Best and Fairest - Ian McGuinness
Outstanding Service - Peter Slade, Peter Watts, Neil McMullin
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| EF | Richmond | LOSS | 74-84 | ||
Under 17s
Best and Fairest - Robert Flower
Second Best and Fairest - James Ahern
Outstanding Service - Glen Campbell, Guy Moorhouse
Best Clubman - Ian Kavanagh