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1992

Coach: John Northey
Captain: Garry Lyon
Finishing Position: 11th
Best and Fairest: Glenn Lovett
Leading Goalkicker: Allen Jakovich (40)
Best First Year Player: Chris Sullivan
Sponsor: Snowy Mountain Spring Water
Members: 8681
Financial result: -$351,826

Matches Ladder Playing List Best and Fairest Tribunal Reserves
Image

After five straight finals appearances, the club started the year with a new President in Ian Ridley, but also with $600,000 of unpaid bills after a combined million dollar deficit across the previous two seasons. After playing every finals series since 1987 without a premiership they gambled heavily on a revamped list, letting several established senior players go and bringing in experienced discards from other clubs.

Senior coach John Northey began pre-season with a five day camp at HMAS Cerberus in Crib Point, but the Demons' start to the year was interrupted by the Cricket World Cup which kept them off the MCG until Round 2, and district cricket finals at the Junction Oval that forced them into a third choice training ground in a St Kilda park. Recovering stars Garry Lyon and Jim Stynes were forbidden from training because it was feared they would injure themselves again on a pothole.

The club's first preference for a training and social base was land next to the National Tennis Centre, overlooking the Old Scotch Oval which was controlled by the MCC. The $5 million plan to build a six hectare complex - to be funded by the Tennis Centre Trust and repaid by the club as part of their lease - was rejected by the Trust in August. It left the club with the rights to 105 poker machines but nowhere to put them. There were also discussions about using the Olympic Park #2 Oval, complicated by the Greyhound Racing Association recently winning a 15 year extension to their lease. When all other options were exhausted they considered redeveloping the Junction Oval instead.

Melbourne's pre-season had been poor in most ways, losing four of five practice matches and their first round Fosters Cup game, but after a Round 1 bye the Demons thumped Geelong in Round 2. After that bright start they failed to win again until Round 10, throwing away an eight goal lead in the last quarter against Essendon and drawing with the unfancied Swans. They used 41 players for the season, the most in any year since 1987.

Despite eventually winning seven games the Demons were six and a half wins out of the top six, and after five straight years of finals John Northey resigned as coach to sign with Richmond the same day. Melbourne had announced that Northey's job was under review, and at the same time Allan Jeans was retiring at the Tigers, so when he was offered the certainty of a guaranteed job in 1993 he took it. It was revealed that Melbourne officials were going to compile a shortlist, including Northey, and vote on it to decide who would coach the side in '93.

The Under 19s were abolished, and the Reserves competition was played under the name 'Victorian State Football League' despite still involving Brisbane and Sydney. Melbourne lost their third straight Grand Final in the grade.

In August, former player Gerard Healy wrote a newspaper article claiming Melbourne and Richmond had been engaged in high-level towards a merger. Both clubs denied the story and Healy was forced to retract the story and issue an apology following the involvement of Richmond's solicitors. Ian Ridley said the club would not seek a merger, but would consider offers from others. After losing $463,188 for the season, Ridley denied further rumours of a merger with Fitzroy. He said "The Melbourne Football Club is the oldest football club in Australia and will never compromise and lose its identity."

At the end of the season, members voted on a proposal to cut the board from 12 to eight, with six positions voted for by MCC Members to be abolished. There was also a proposal at an Extraordinary General Meeting to allow the club to hold a gaming and liquor licence to allow them open a licensed venue. The club was revealed to be in financial difficulties, with a group of senior players asked to take pay cuts at the end of the season. Contractually obligated pay rises would reportedly have put Melbourne over the salary cap, but with the club ending the year without a major sponsor and making a large monetary loss there was also a suggestion that the cuts were to help their overall financial position. New coach Neil Balme was introduced to players on the same night the cuts were announced. The club would have lost significantly more money if they hadn't changed accounting practices and deferred two months of player payments into 1993. The club went over the salary cap and was fined $13,470.

In a contested election at the end of the year, former President Stuart Spencer was returned to the board after being defeated a year earlier, he was reelected on a ticket opposed to former Melbourne player and current board member Steven Smith. Spencer, Kevin Jones and Bill Balcam were successful, while Smith, Keith Cheong and Ian Johnson lost.

Practice matches

OppositionResultScore
Fitzroy LOSS74-99
St. Kilda LOSS97-132
Richmond LOSS120-128
Collingwood LOSS58-176
Brisbane WIN128-65
Norwood WIN104-80

Fosters Cup

RoundOppositionResultScore
1 Footscray LOSS61-103

Premiership Season

RoundOppositionResultScore
1 BYE
2 GeelongWIN113-105
3 AdelaideLOSS95-104
4 RichmondLOSS69-119
5 CollingwoodLOSS98-131
6 EssendonLOSS123-124
7 SydneyDRAW96-96
8 St. KildaLOSS65-125
9 HawthornLOSS48-120
10 North MelbourneWIN140-104
11 CarltonLOSS65-99
12 Brisbane BearsLOSS77-103
13 FootscrayLOSS54-161
14 BYE
15 FitzroyWIN109-87
16 West CoastLOSS87-109
17 GeelongLOSS63-136
18 AdelaideWIN116-67
19 RichmondWIN150-75
20 CollingwoodWIN109-100
21 EssendonLOSS94-126
22 SydneyWIN139-88
23 St. KildaLOSS43-58
24 HawthornLOSS130-149

Ladder

WDL%P
Geelong1606145.664
Footscray1606129.864
Collingwood1606114.964
West Coast1516125.962
Hawthorn1408122.956
St. Kilda1408120.256
Carlton1408112.356
Essendon1201092.848
Adelaide11011101.444
Fitzroy901390.336
Melbourne711487.330
North Melbourne701589.528
Richmond501773.520
Brisbane411764.618
Sydney311874.114

Playing List

NumberPlayerGamesGoals
2 Stephen Tingay 6 1
3 Garry Lyon 1630
4 Chris Sullivan 1619
5 David Schwarz 2220
6 Glenn Lovett 1812
7 Darren Kowal 30
8 Graeme Yeats 195
9 Darren Cuthbertson 115
11 Jim Stynes 229
12 Todd Viney 227
13 Allen Jakovich 1140
14 Rod Grinter 30
15 Paul Bryce 133
16 Andy Lovell 1926
17 Brett Lovett 204
18 Steven Stretch 1814
19 Darren Bennett 1428
20 Matthew Febey 105
21 Steven Febey 142
22 Stephen Wearne 32
23 Kevin Dyson 51
24 Luke Beveridge 66
25 Simon Eishold 51
26 Wayne Henwood 10
27 Sean Wight 116
28 John Howat 53
29 Andrew Obst 1614
31 Rod Keogh 133
32 Andy Goodwin 130
33 Greg Healy 119
35 Michael Pickering 1110
36 Grant Williams 45
37 Andrew Lamprill 41
40 Shane Burgmann 10
41 Peter Rohde 210
43 Andrew Ford 40
44 Sean Charles 914
45 Wayne Lamb 20
46 Matthew Mahoney 20
46 Haydn Robins 141
49 Brian Stynes 20

Best and Fairest

PlayerVotes
1st Glenn Lovett 463
2nd Andy Lovell 320
3rd David Schwarz 301
4th Garry Lyon 244
5th Jim Stynes 239
6th Todd Viney 216
7th Graeme Yeats 213
8th Steven Stretch 209
9th Michael Pickering 178
10th Peter Rohde 144
11th Andrew Obst 107
12th Greg Healy 93
12th Brett Lovett 93
14th Chris Sullivan 84
15th Haydn Robins 80
16th Rod Keogh 76
16th Sean Wight 76
18th Allen Jakovich 54
19th Andy Goodwin 53
20th Sean Charles 48
21st Paul Bryce 33
22nd Darren Cuthbertson 26
23rd Steven Febey 16
23rd Rod Grinter 16
25th Luke Beveridge 12
25th Andrew Ford 12
27th Darren Bennett 11
27th Andrew Lamprill 11
27th Stephen Tingay 11
30th Brian Stynes 7
30th Matthew Febey 7

Awards
Most Consistent - Peter Rohde
Most Improved - David Schwarz
Best Team Player - Todd Viney

Tribunal

RoundPlayerChargeSanction
Round 4 Reserves Wayne Lamb UnknownNot guilty
Round 10 Rod Keogh Striking 2 matches
Round 10 Reserves Wayne Henwood Striking Unknown
Round 11 Rod Grinter Striking 6 matches
Round 13 Graeme Yeats Striking 3 matches
Round 17 Reserves Robert Lemon Striking Unknown
Round 19 Haydn Robins Striking 1 match
Round 22 Darren Bennett Charging Not Guilty
Round 24 Reserves Rod Grinter Striking Not guilty
Reserves Elimination Final Rod Grinter Striking Not guilty
Reserves Preliminary Final Rod Grinter Striking Not guilty

Reserves

1992 Reserves Season
Best and Fairest - Rod Grinter

WDL%P
Essendon 1903167.476
Carlton 1615129.066
Melbourne 1606135.764
Footscray 1507146.860
St Kilda 1309106.052
North Melbourne 12010115.448
Collingwood1101195.744
Hawthorn911284.438
Geelong901392.136
Fitzroy901380.036
Brisbane701570.528
Richmond401872.216
Sydney202065.88

Finals

RoundOppositionResultScore
EF North MelbourneWIN99-57
SF EssendonLOSS98-122
PF CarltonWIN85-73
GF Essendon LOSS94-127


Notes
Age 12/05/1993 says that the loss by the end of the year was $463,000.

Media
Age - 09/05/1992, 10/08/1992, 16/08/1992, 26/08/1992, 21/09/1992, 29/09/1992, 28/10/1992, 17/12/1992, 12/05/1993
Canberra Times - 19/12/1992
Teamworks - December 1992

Links
AFL Tables page
Wikipedia page

Created by Supermercado. Last Modification: Saturday 17 February 2024 15:29:35 AEDT by Supermercado. (Version 72)

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