Coach: Neale Daniher
Captain: Todd Viney
Finishing Position: 14th
Best and Fairest: David Schwarz
Leading Goalkicker: David Neitz (46)
Best First Year Player: n/a
Major Sponsor : LG Electronics
Members: 19,713
Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Best and Fairest | Reserves |
After a shock rise from 1997 wooden spooners to 1998 preliminary finalists Neale Daniher repeated his 1998 pre-season plan of sending the players to four weeks of 'school', split between theory and training, but the results were more like a return to '97 than his first year.
After a Round 1 victory the Demons won just five more times for the year and lost their last nine to finish third last. To add insult to injury they were forced to hand their first pick in the 1999 National Draft to Fremantle as compensation for taking Jeff White with money outside the salary cap.
The club's voluntary admission of salary cap violations in previous years, which began with President Joseph Gutnick calling for an enquiry after an internal audit revealed they paid more than $800,000 outside the cap, saw Melbourne hit with a $600,000 fine. $250,000 was suspended on the condition that the club not be involved in any serious breaches for five years and they were also stripped of their first three picks of the 2000 Draft as well. They later got back their first pick in 2000.
In August CEO Cameron Schwab retired after disagreements with Gutnick. Garry Lyon, who retired during the season, joined in a public disagreement with the President over the issue. With five vacancies on the board at the end of the year Gutnick endorsed Mark Rothfield, Peter Hayes, Gabriel Szondy, Beverley O'Connor and Stephen Bickford. This ticket was opposed by Ian Thorogood, Gary Hardeman, Ralph Glezer, Aris Imbardelli, Garry Pearce and existing director Angus Graham.
The club made a $1,494,645 loss. Salary cap fines, tax debts and an undisclosed severence payment to Schwab accounted for $1.2m on top of a trading loss of $298k.
The club end of season trip to Cancun, Mexico was notable for the players deciding to train while on the trip in an attempt to build fitness for the 2000 season, and to atone for their poor performance in '99.
Practice Matches
Opposition | Result | Score | |||
Adelaide | WIN | 78-73 | |||
Carlton | LOSS | 112-149 | |||
Sydney | WIN | 62-38 | |||
Fremantle | WIN | 78-69 |
Ansett Australia Cup
Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
1 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 60-81 |
Premiership Season
Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
1 | Richmond | WIN | 104-87 | ||
2 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 84-130 | ||
3 | Geelong | LOSS | 91-97 | ||
4 | Hawthorn | WIN | 85-84 | ||
5 | Port Adelaide | WIN | 90-66 | ||
6 | Brisbane Lions | LOSS | 70-93 | ||
7 | Essendon | WIN | 134-113 | ||
8 | Western Bulldogs | LOSS | 53-117 | ||
9 | Carlton | LOSS | 64-97 | ||
10 | Fremantle | LOSS | 90-144 | ||
11 | Collingwood | WIN | 89-78 | ||
12 | Kangaroos | LOSS | 92-93 | ||
13 | Adelaide | WIN | 109-91 | ||
14 | West Coast | LOSS | 77-112 | ||
15 | Sydney | LOSS | 74-125 | ||
16 | Richmond | LOSS | 82-107 | ||
17 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 79-98 | ||
18 | Geelong | LOSS | 80-101 | ||
19 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 54-122 | ||
20 | Port Adelaide | LOSS | 46-63 | ||
21 | Brisbane Lions | LOSS | 104-159 | ||
22 | Essendon | LOSS | 99-116 |
Ladder
W | D | L | % | P | |
Essendon | 18 | 0 | 4 | 126.0 | 72 |
Kangaroos | 17 | 0 | 5 | 115.7 | 68 |
Brisbane | 16 | 0 | 6 | 144.9 | 64 |
Western Bulldogs | 15 | 1 | 6 | 118.6 | 62 |
West Coast | 12 | 0 | 10 | 106.8 | 48 |
Carlton | 12 | 0 | 10 | 103.0 | 48 |
Port Adelaide | 12 | 0 | 10 | 90.1 | 48 |
Sydney | 11 | 0 | 11 | 102.6 | 44 |
Hawthorn | 10 | 1 | 11 | 95.6 | 42 |
St. Kilda | 10 | 0 | 12 | 97.9 | 40 |
Geelong | 10 | 0 | 12 | 94.9 | 40 |
Richmond | 9 | 0 | 13 | 91.1 | 36 |
Adelaide | 8 | 0 | 14 | 85.3 | 32 |
Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 16 | 80.7 | 24 |
Fremantle | 5 | 0 | 17 | 82.4 | 20 |
Collingwood | 4 | 0 | 18 | 84.8 | 16 |
Best and Fairest
Player | Votes | ||||
1st | David Schwarz | 271 | |||
2nd | Shane Woewodin | 270 | |||
3rd | Andrew Leoncelli | 253 | |||
4th | Anthony Ingerson | 214 | |||
5th | David Neitz | 201 | |||
6th | Matthew Febey | 185 | |||
7th | Todd Viney | 180 | |||
8th | Paul Hopgood | 170 | |||
9th | Guy Rigoni | 162 | |||
10th | Peter Walsh | 117 | |||
11th | Stephen Tingay | 114 | |||
12th | Jeff Farmer | 109 | |||
13th | Jeff White | 105 | |||
14th | Adem Yze | 101 | |||
15th | Daniel Ward | 85 | |||
16th | Steven Febey | 82 | |||
17th | Scott Chisholm | 80 | |||
18th | Troy Longmuir | 54 | |||
19th | Jamie Shanahan | 52 | |||
20th | Marcus Seecamp | 29 | |||
21st | Darren Kowal | 28 | |||
22nd | Travis Johnstone | 26 | |||
23rd | Russell Robertson | 25 | |||
24th | Brent Grgic | 23 | |||
25th | Garry Lyon | 18 | |||
26th | Matthew Bishop | 17 | |||
27th | Ben Beams | 14 | |||
28th | Alistair Nicholson | 12 | |||
29th | Anthony McDonald | 10 | |||
30th | Glenn Lovett | 6 |
Other Awards
Best Team Player - Anthony Ingerson
Inspiration Award - David Schwarz
Most Consistent - David Schwarz and Shane Woewodin
Most Improved - Daniel Ward
Tribunal
Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
Ansett Cup R1 | Jamie Shanahan | Tripping | 2 matches | ||
Ansett Cup R1 | Nick Carter | Striking | 2 matches | ||
Round 10 | Adem Yze | Striking | Not Guilty | ||
Round 19 | Matthew Bishop | Charging | Cleared | ||
Round 21 | David Schwarz | Melee | $2000 fine | ||
Round 21 | Travis Johnstone | Melee | $2000 fine | ||
Round 21 | Matthew Bishop | Melee | $1500 fine | ||
Round 21 | Andrew Leoncelli | Melee | $1500 fine | ||
Round 21 | Todd Viney | Melee | $1000 fine | ||
Round 21 | Daniel Ward | Melee | $1000 fine | ||
Round 21 | Guy Rigoni | Melee | $1000 fine | ||
Round 22 | Marcus Seecamp | Headbutting | Four matches | ||
Round 22 | Brent Grgic | Striking | Withdrawn | ||
Round 22 | Brent Grgic | Striking | Withdrawn |
Reserves
Ladder
W | D | L | % | P | |
St Kilda | 15 | 0 | 5 | 131.2 | 60 |
Melbourne | 15 | 0 | 5 | 122.3 | 60 |
Richmond | 13 | 0 | 7 | 124.8 | 52 |
Collingwood | 12 | 0 | 8 | 48 | 119.0 |
Western Bulldogs | 11 | 0 | 9 | 103.9 | 44 |
Essendon | 10 | 0 | 10 | 90.9 | 40 |
Sydney | 8 | 0 | 12 | 89.5 | 40 |
Kangaroos | 7 | 0 | 13 | 88.2 | 28 |
Geelong | 7 | 0 | 13 | 81.5 | 28 |
Hawthorn | 6 | 0 | 14 | 90.3 | 24 |
Carlton | 6 | 0 | 14 | 81.8 | 24 |
Finals
Round | Opposition | Result | |||
QF | St Kilda | LOSS | |||
SF | Essendon | LOSS |
Best and Fairest
Player | Votes | ||||
1st | Nick Carter | 210 | |||
2nd | Damien Peverill | 195 | |||
3rd | Darren Kowal | 190 | |||
4th | Simon Godfrey | 174 | |||
5th | Troy Simmonds | 164 | |||
6th | Cameron Bruce | 157 | |||
7th | Matthew Collins | 125 | |||
8th | Russell Robertson | 100 | |||
9th | Ben Beams | 85 | |||
10th | Craig Smoker | 72 | |||
11th | Nathan Brown | 57 | |||
12th | Daniel Ward | 50 | |||
13th | James McDonald | 45 | |||
14th | Alistair Nicholson | 44 | |||
15th | Luke Williams | 43 | |||
16th | Chris Lamb | 42 | |||
17th | Anthony McDonald | 39 | |||
18th | Matthew Bishop | 33 | |||
18th | Donald Cockatoo-Collins | 33 | |||
20th | Luke Speers | 31 | |||
21st | Scott Chisholm | 27 | |||
22nd | Ricky Frost | 25 | |||
23rd | Paul Hopgood | 22 | |||
24th | Peter Walsh | 21 | |||
25th | Anthony Ferraro | 16 | |||
26th | Troy Longmuir | 15 | |||
27th | Cameron Ramsay | 14 | |||
27th | Marcus Seecamp | 14 | |||
27th | Olly Trand | 14 | |||
30th | Guy Rigoni | 13 | |||
31st | Shannon Gibson | 12 | |||
31st | Travis Johnstone | 12 | |||
33rd | Leigh Newton | 10 | |||
34th | Luke Ottens | 7 | |||
35th | Paul Chapman | 6 | |||
35th | Brett Zorzi | 6 | |||
37th | Steve Hazelman | 5 |
Media
Age - 02/03/1999
Age - 17/11/1999
Herald Sun - 25/11/1999
Age - 13/12/1999