Coach: Dean Bailey
Captain: James McDonald
Finishing Position: 16th
Best and Fairest: Cameron Bruce
Leading Goalkicker: Brad Miller (26 goals)
Best First Year Player : Cale Morton
Major Sponsor: Primus Telecommunications
Members: 32,600
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Best and Fairest | ||
After the demise of Neale Daniher midway through 2007 former Essendon player and Port Adelaide assistant Dean Bailey came from nowhere to secure the coaches job, beating a field including Kevin Sheedy and Chris Connolly.
Bailey endured a horrific induction to AFL coaching when his side lost the first two games of the year by a combined 199 points. Expected to suffer a similar massacre against the reigning premiers Geelong in Round 3, and entering the game as one of the longest betting outsiders in history, the Dees shocked the Cats with the first three goals on route to a respectable loss.
The Demons broke through for their first win of the season in remarkable fashion when a 51 point half-time deficit was overturned in defeating Fremantle by 7 points in Round 7. The next win would come in no less dramatic fashion in Round 14 when three late goals delivered a surprise win over Brisbane.
Off-field things weren't going particuarly well either. AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou told the club their brand was 'meaningless', despite the AFL being in the midst of 150th anniversary celebrations traced directly back to the foundation of the club and Hawthorn President Jeff Kennett was telling anyone who would listen how the club would need to move to the Gold Coast to survive.
The board of Paul Gardner was replaced by a Jim Stynes led administration, and Stynes held a "Debt Demolition" month in August which aimed to wipe a substantial portion of the money the club owed. A "Debt Demolition" Dinner was held and player Brock McLean donated $10,000 to the cause. More than a million dollars was raised for the cause. In August, Geelong Chief Operation Officer Stuart Fox nearly signed to become Melbourne's CEO, before agreeing to remain at the Cats for the next three years. He had already come close to being given the job earlier in the year before Paul McNamee was chosen.
A lifeless late season win over an equally disappointing West Coast would be their last and the season limped to a close with two heavy defeats.
Jim Stynes assumed the presidency halfway through the year when Paul Gardner resigned.
Jeff White and Adem Yze left the club at the end of the season, while the last place finish enabled the club to have selection #1 at the 2008 National Draft where they picked forward Jack Watts
NAB Cup
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Geelong | LOSS | 89-161 | ||
Practice Matches
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Richmond | LOSS | 35 pts | |||
| Western Bulldogs | LOSS | 63-93 | |||
| North Melbourne | LOSS | 94-146 | |||
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 50-154 | ||
| 2 | Western Bulldogs | LOSS | 66-161 | ||
| 3 | Geelong | LOSS | 82-112 | ||
| 4 | North Melbourne | LOSS | 79-127 | ||
| 5 | Carlton | LOSS | 68-101 | ||
| 6 | Brisbane Lions | LOSS | 85-137 | ||
| 7 | Fremantle | WIN | 119-113 | ||
| 8 | Adelaide | LOSS | 74-150 | ||
| 9 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 78-97 | ||
| 10 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 50-129 | ||
| 11 | Collingwood | LOSS | 95-116 | ||
| 12 | Richmond | LOSS | 94-116 | ||
| 13 | Sydney | LOSS | 74-114 | ||
| 14 | Brisbane Lions | WIN | 93-92 | ||
| 15 | Western Bulldogs | LOSS | 64-95 | ||
| 16 | Fremantle | LOSS | 68-114 | ||
| 17 | North Melbourne | LOSS | 70-98 | ||
| 18 | Essendon | LOSS | 108-124 | ||
| 19 | Geelong | LOSS | 41-157 | ||
| 20 | West Coast | WIN | 79-45 | ||
| 21 | Port Adelaide | LOSS | 51-129 | ||
| 22 | Richmond | LOSS | 41-121 | ||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Geelong | 21 | 0 | 1 | 161.8 | 84 |
| Hawthorn | 17 | 0 | 5 | 131.9 | 68 |
| Western Bulldogs | 15 | 1 | 6 | 118.7 | 62 |
| St. Kilda | 13 | 0 | 9 | 110.6 | 52 |
| Adelaide | 13 | 0 | 9 | 109.7 | 52 |
| Sydney | 12 | 1 | 9 | 112.5 | 50 |
| North Melbourne | 12 | 1 | 9 | 97.0 | 50 |
| Collingwood | 12 | 0 | 10 | 111.2 | 48 |
| Richmond | 11 | 1 | 10 | 97.4 | 46 |
| Brisbane Lions | 10 | 0 | 12 | 98 | 40 |
| Carlton | 10 | 0 | 12 | 94.2 | 40 |
| Essendon | 8 | 0 | 14 | 81.7 | 32 |
| Port Adelaide | 7 | 0 | 15 | 95.9 | 28 |
| Fremantle | 6 | 0 | 12 | 93.7 | 24 |
| West Coast | 4 | 0 | 18 | 65.9 | 16 |
| Melbourne | 3 | 0 | 19 | 62.6 | 12 |
Senior List
| Number | Name | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Simon Buckley | 14 | 2 | ||
| 2 | Nathan Jones | 21 | 9 | ||
| 3 | Clint Bartram | 21 | 5 | ||
| 4 | Ben Holland | 2 | 4 | ||
| 5 | Brock McLean | 14 | 3 | ||
| 6 | Matthew Bate | 15 | 13 | ||
| 7 | Brad Miller | 19 | 26 | ||
| 8 | James Frawley | 11 | 0 | ||
| 9 | David Neitz | 5 | 3 | ||
| 10 | Cale Morton | 19 | 12 | ||
| 11 | Paul Johnson | 16 | 7 | ||
| 12 | Colin Sylvia | 18 | 16 | ||
| 13 | Adem Yze | 6 | 5 | ||
| 14 | Lynden Dunn | 16 | 6 | ||
| 15 | Ricky Petterd | 2 | 0 | ||
| 16 | Jack Grimes | 1 | 0 | ||
| 17 | Chris Johnson | 10 | 2 | ||
| 18 | Brad Green | 20 | 20 | ||
| 19 | Addam Maric | 5 | 2 | ||
| 20 | Colin Garland | 17 | 2 | ||
| 21 | Daniel Bell | 18 | 0 | ||
| 22 | Brent Moloney | 8 | 2 | ||
| 23 | James McDonald | 19 | 1 | ||
| 24 | Russell Robertson | 10 | 20 | ||
| 27 | Jared Rivers | 6 | 0 | ||
| 28 | Isaac Weetra | 2 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Michael Newton | 6 | 9 | ||
| 31 | Paul Wheatley | 19 | 2 | ||
| 32 | Cameron Bruce | 22 | 13 | ||
| 33 | Stefan Martin | 8 | 0 | ||
| 34 | Jeff White | 15 | 7 | ||
| 36 | Aaron Davey | 15 | 11 | ||
| 37 | Matthew Warnock | 17 | 0 | ||
| 40 | Mark Jamar | 14 | 4 | ||
| 41 | Nathan Carroll | 9 | 0 | ||
| 43 | Jace Bode | 5 | 0 | ||
| 45 | Matthew Whelan | 12 | 1 | ||
Rookie List
| Number | Name | Games | Goals | ||
| 35 | Trent Zomer | 0 | 0 | ||
| 39 | Austin Wonaeamirri | 18 | 24 | ||
| 42 | Jake Spencer | 0 | 0 | ||
| 44 | Shane Valenti | 9 | 3 | ||
Best and Fairest
After each round, the five members of the match committee rate the best players with a score out of four. There is no limit on the number of players who can receive votes. The maximum amount of votes a player can receive per round is 20.
| Player | Votes | ||||
| 1st | Cameron Bruce | 75 | |||
| 2nd | Brock McLean | 60 | |||
| 3rd | Brad Green | 57 | |||
| 4th | Matthew Warnock | 47 | |||
| 5th | James McDonald | 46 | |||
| 6th | Brad Miller | 40 | |||
| 6th | Cale Morton | 40 | |||
| 8th | Clint Bartram | 39 | |||
| 8th | Paul Wheatley | 39 | |||
| 8th | Austin Wonaeamirri | 39 | |||
| 10th | Matthew Bate | 38 | |||
| 11th | Lynden Dunn | 37 | |||
| 12th | Colin Garland | 30 | |||
| 13th | Chris Johnson | 25 | |||
| 14th | Paul Johnson | 24 | |||
| 14th | Jeff White | 24 | |||
| 16th | Matthew Whelan | 23 | |||
| 17th | Nathan Jones | 22 | |||
| 17th | Colin Sylvia | 22 | |||
| 19th | Aaron Davey | 20 | |||
| 20th | Daniel Bell | 19 | |||
| 21st | Mark Jamar | 18 | |||
| 22nd | Brent Moloney | 16 | |||
| 23rd | Simon Buckley | 14 | |||
| 24th | Stefan Martin | 12 | |||
| 25th | Russell Robertson | 10 | |||
| 26th | Jared Rivers | 9 | |||
| 27th | Nathan Carroll | 8 | |||
| 28th | James Frawley | 6 | |||
| 28th | Addam Maric | 6 | |||
| 28th | Adem Yze | 6 | |||
| 31st | Ben Holland | 5 | |||
| 31st | Shane Valenti | 5 | |||
| 33rd | Michael Newton | 4 | |||
Other awards
Norm Smith Memorial Trophy - Coaches Award - Matthew Warnock
Ian Ridley Club Ambassador Award - Clint Bartram
Ron Barassi Jnr Leadership Award - Brad Green
Troy Broadbridge Memorial Trophy - Adem Yze
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Practice Match | Russell Robertson | Charging | ? | ||
| Round 4 | Brad Miller | Rough Conduct | 1 match | ||
| Round 5 | Matthew Whelan | Striking | 1 match | ||
| Round 9 | Nathan Jones | Umpire contact | $1950 fine | ||
| Round 11 | Lynden Dunn | Melee | $1200 fine | ||
| Round 11 | Clint Bartram | Wrestling | $900 fine | ||
| Round 15 | Colin Sylvia | Striking | Reprimand | ||
| Round 17 | Lynden Dunn | Striking | Reprimand | ||
| Round 17 | Lynden Dunn | Striking | Withdrawn | ||
| Round 22 | Brad Miller | Wrestling | $1800 fine | ||
Media
Age - 21/08/2008
melbournefc.com.au - 02/10/2008