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2007

Coach: Neale Daniher
Captain: David Neitz
Finishing Position: 14th
Best and Fairest: James McDonald
Leading Goalkicker: Russell Robertson (42)
Best First Year Player: Ricky Petterd
Major Sponsor: Primus Telecommunications
Members: 28,077

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Matches Ladder Playing List Best and Fairest

After finishing as the best placed Victorian team in 2006, Melbourne were considered one of the best chances of bringing the premiership cup home in 2007 after an extended period of interstate dominance. Three straight years of finals meant 28 players on the list had finals experience, and the blend of youth and experience was seen as a perfect combination to take the next step in 2007, however with a number of players recovering from off-season surgeries Neale Daniher expected a slow start.

The leadership group consisted of David Neitz (captain), Cameron Bruce, Brad Green, Brock McLean and James McDonald.

Opening the season on a Friday night in Round 1 against St. Kilda showed that the AFL had faith in them as one of the 'entertainers' for '07. A Matthew Whelan shirtfront on Luke Ball lit up the crowd, but from that moment nothing went right for the Demons for the next two months. Brock McLean, threatening to become a superstar after his 2006 finals performance, broke his foot in the same game and the Demons would go on an extended winning streak.

In 2006 they had lost the first three but bounced back to play an exciting brand of football, but as the third loss became a fourth loss and they suddenly found themselves 0-9 the club was plunged into crisis. Heartbreaking losses against Port Adelaide and the Kangaroos kept them winless before finally breaking through for a victory against Adelaide in Round 10. Another win the next week over Collingwood had some jokingly talking about a run to the finals, but a Round 12 loss to fellow cellar-dwellars Richmond saw any optimism come to a crashing halt.

Neale Daniher was informed that he would have to reapply for his job and promptly announced that he would leave his job after the Round 13 match against his old side Essendon. Once more the Demons suffered a thrilling loss - from a Scott Lucas goal with 11 seconds remaining - and Daniher stepped aside to make way for Mark Riley.

Riley won his coaching debut against the struggling Blues, but the side then embarked on another four week losing streak. Highlights were few and far between over those four matches, but Michael Newton memorably took Mark of the Year in the Round 16 loss to the Kangaroos.

A comfortable win over the Western Bulldogs in Round 19 arrested the slide, but on a night where David Neitz became the first Melbourne player to achieve 300 games, the Demons were losers again against Collingwood in a rare Friday night match.

Round 22 saw a bizarre game where both Melbourne and Carlton would gain more from losing than winning. The difference, however, was a #3 pick for the Blues against a priority pick at the end of the first round for the Demons. Neither side showed a particular interest in defence and Travis Johnstone raked in a career high 42 possessions.

Despite the club's poor season they set an all-time membership record of 28,077.

West Coast superstar, and childhood Melbourne fan, Chris Judd named Melbourne as one of his preferred clubs to negotiate with for his return to Victoria but eliminated the Demons from the running before choosing Carlton over Collingwood.

In trade week Travis Johnstone was swapped to the Brisbane Lions for selection 14 in the 2007 Draft (Jack Grimes), and John Meesen joined from Adelaide for selection 38 (Myke Cook).

NAB Cup

RoundOppositionResultScore
1 Hawthorn LOSS86-110

Practice matches

OppositionResultScore
Adelaide LOSS44-100
Richmond WIN103-75
Geelong LOSS54-79

Premiership season

RoundOppositionResultScore
1 St.Kilda LOSS62-93
2 Hawthorn LOSS94-116
3 GeelongLOSS57-109
4 Fremantle LOSS92-137
5 Sydney LOSS60-109
6 Port Adelaide LOSS71-76
7 Western Bulldogs LOSS106-112
8 West Coast LOSS60-137
9 North Melbourne LOSS78-79
10 Adelaide WIN89-72
11 Collingwood WIN94-81
12 Richmond LOSS75-124
13 Essendon LOSS123-125
14 Carlton WIN124-101
15 Brisbane LOSS82-126
16 Kangaroos LOSS62-126
17 Port Adelaide LOSS74-163
18 Sydney LOSS64-112
19 Western Bulldogs WIN129-87
20 Collingwood LOSS70-81
21 Fremantle LOSS85-144
22 Carlton WIN139-108

Ladder

WDL%P
Geelong1804152.872
Port Adelaide1507113.560
West Coast1507111.760
Kangaroos1408109.356
Hawthorn1309113.052
Collingwood1309101.052
Sydney1219119.650
Adelaide12010109.948
St. Kilda1111096.546
Brisbane9211105.440
Fremantle10012102.540
Essendon1001291.240
Western Bulldogs911285.538
Melbourne501778.220
Carlton401874.416
Richmond311877.214

Playing List

NumberPlayerGamesGoals
1 Simon Buckley 6 1
2 Nathan Jones 2110
3 Clint Bizzell 100
4 Ben Holland 1011
5 Brock McLean 144
6 Matthew Bate 1919
7 Brad Miller 1610
8 James Frawley 90
9 David Neitz 1526
10 Daniel Ward 183
11 Paul Johnson 162
12 Colin Sylvia 1612
13 Adem Yze 84
14 Lynden Dunn 129
15 Ricky Petterd 96
16 Travis Johnstone 157
17 Chris Johnson 80
18 Brad Green 1813
19 Clint Bartram 10
20 Colin Garland 20
21 Daniel Bell 171
22 Brent Moloney 105
23 James McDonald 213
24 Russell Robertson 1542
25 Nathan Brown 193
26 Heath Neville 00
27 Jared Rivers 30
29 Michael Newton 1014
30 Simon Godfrey 177
31 Paul Wheatley 144
32 Cameron Bruce 169
33 Byron Pickett 97
34 Jeff White 227
35 Ryan Ferguson 82
36 Aaron Davey 1824
37 Matthew Warnock 21
40 Mark Jamar 104
41 Nathan Carroll 210
45 Matthew Whelan 50

Rookie List

NumberPlayerGamesGoals
38 Daniel Hughes 00
39 Shane Neaves 00
42 Daniel Hayes 00
43 Jace Bode 43

Best and Fairest

Each member of the match committee gives up to five players a rating out of 10 after each game. The maximum number of votes a player can receive per game is 40.

PlayerVotes
1st James McDonald 256
2nd Nathan Jones 190
3rd Matthew Bate 179
4th Brad Green 170
5th Aaron Davey 168
6th Cameron Bruce 167
7th Jeff White 157
8th Brock McLean 131
9th Nathan Brown
Russell Robertson
130
11th Nathan Carroll 126
12th Daniel Bell
Travis Johnstone
122
14th Colin Sylvia 113
15th Simon Godfrey 112
16th Paul Wheatley 100
17th Ben Holland 90
18th Lynden Dunn 82
19th David Neitz 78
20th Adem Yze 69
21st Brad Miller
Daniel Ward
59
23rd Jared Rivers 44
24th Ricky Petterd 37
25th Michael Newton 35
26th Jace Bode 24
27th Brent Moloney 21
28th Byron Pickett 17
29th Clint Bizzell 16
30th Clint Bartram
Simon Buckley
11
32nd James Frawley 6
33rd Ryan Ferguson
Mark Jamar
5

Other awards
Best Team Player - Brad Green
Redlegs Trophy for Best Clubman - Lynden Dunn
Most Improved - Michael Newton
Most Consistent - James McDonald
Troy Broadbridge Memorial Trophy - Ryan Ferguson

AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year

PlayerVotes
1 Russell Robertson 22
2 Nathan Jones 21
3 Cameron Bruce 19
4 Aaron Davey
Travis Johnstone
13
6 James McDonald 12
7 Daniel Bell 11
8 Matthew Bate 10
9 Brad Green
Ben Holland
Paul Wheatley
9
12 Simon Godfrey 7
13 Jeff White 6
14 Nathan Brown
Brock McLean
Colin Sylvia
5
17 Clint Bizzell 3
18 Nathan Carroll
Lynden Dunn
Brent Moloney
David Neitz
Daniel Ward
2
23 Jared Rivers
Adem Yze
1

Tribunal

RoundPlayerChargeSanction
NAB Cup R1 Adem Yze Attempted Trip Reprimand
Round 6 Colin Sylvia Front-On Contact Reprimand
Round 6 Aaron Davey Charging Reprimand
Round 6 Travis Johnstone Abusive Language $900 fine
Round 7 Ben Holland Contact to the Face Reprimand
Round 14 Colin Sylvia Wrestling Withdrawn
Round 14 Aaron Davey Striking 2 matches
Round 16 Simon Godfrey Head contact Withdrawn
Round 21 Brock McLean Wrestling $900 fine
Round 21 Brad Miller Wrestling $3000 fine
Round 22 Michael Newton Striking Reprimand

Coaching staff

Mark Riley - Assistant Coach (until end Round 13)
Paul Williams - Assistant Coach
Peter Curran - Assistant Coach
Barry Prendergast - Assistant Coach (from Round 14)

Links
AFL Tables page
Coaches votes

Created by Supermercado. Last Modification: Friday 22 September 2023 23:02:07 AEST by Supermercado. (Version 31)

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