Coach: Frank Hughes
Captain: Ivor Warne-Smith
Finishing Position: 2nd
Best and Fairest: Jack Mueller
Leading Goalkicker: Ron Baggott (51)
Best First Year Player: n/a
| Matches | Ladder | Playing list | Tribunal | Seconds | |
The VFL loosened its clearance rules so country players could play up to six senior matches with the permission of their original side before requiring a full clearance. For the first time players were allowed representation from their club when facing the Tribunal.
On Saturday April 10, Melbourne played practice matches on the same day against Prahran, Williamstown, and Prahran Districts.
After a club record start to the season where they won their first eight games, two losses in the middle of the year dented Melbourne's double chance hopes. They won the last four of the season to finish second, but without Ray Wartman, Maurie Gibb, Lou Reiffel, Frank Roberts and Bert Chandler they were knocked out in straight sets.
The Round 16 game against Collingwood set a league record for aggregate score, and remains Collingwood's highest losing score.
During the year Melbourne travelled to Sydney by sea for a match on August 7th and returned by train. Jack Mueller and Allan La Fontaine were selected in a VFL representive team that played the VFA.
The improved performance on-field helped the club earn £1000 more in takings than for 1936, leading to their first profit in 25 years, a record £1027.
In July, Vernon Ransford replaced the deceased Harry Parkin as one of the club's VFL delegates.
Practice matches
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Oakleigh | WIN | 124-60 | |||
| Coburg | WIN | 110-40 | |||
| Prahran | WIN | 105-78 | |||
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Richmond | WIN | 92-66 | ||
| 2 | Essendon | WIN | 170-85 | ||
| 3 | Carlton | WIN | 107-71 | ||
| 4 | St. Kilda | WIN | 95-90 | ||
| 5 | Collingwood | WIN | 101-76 | ||
| 6 | Footscray | WIN | 78-56 | ||
| 7 | North Melbourne | WIN | 166-44 | ||
| 8 | Hawthorn | WIN | 105-82 | ||
| 9 | Geelong | LOSS | 71-104 | ||
| 10 | Fitzroy | WIN | 89-50 | ||
| 11 | South Melbourne | WIN | 88-82 | ||
| 12 | Richmond | LOSS | 88-102 | ||
| 13 | Essendon | WIN | 79-63 | ||
| 14 | Carlton | LOSS | 104-120 | ||
| 15 | St. Kilda | WIN | 124-84 | ||
| 16 | Collingwood | WIN | 153-142 | ||
| 17 | Footscray | WIN | 105-74 | ||
| 18 | North Melbourne | WIN | 130-91 | ||
| SF | Geelong | LOSS | 113-125 | ||
| PF | Collingwood | LOSS | 52-107 | ||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Geelong | 15 | 0 | 3 | 135.3 | 60 |
| Melbourne | 15 | 0 | 3 | 131.2 | 60 |
| Collingwood | 13 | 0 | 5 | 129.0 | 52 |
| Richmond | 11 | 1 | 6 | 108.0 | 46 |
| Carlton | 11 | 0 | 7 | 110.9 | 44 |
| St. Kilda | 10 | 0 | 8 | 101.3 | 40 |
| Fitzroy | 7 | 0 | 11 | 93.1 | 28 |
| Hawthorn | 7 | 0 | 11 | 84.4 | 28 |
| South Melbourne | 6 | 1 | 11 | 89.9 | 26 |
| Essendon | 5 | 0 | 13 | 90.6 | 20 |
| Footscray | 4 | 0 | 14 | 81.8 | 16 |
| North Melbourne | 3 | 0 | 15 | 64.2 | 12 |
Exhibition match
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| New South Wales | WIN | 134-56 | |||
Playing list
| Player | Games | Goals | |||
| 1 | Gordon Jones | 15 | 0 | ||
| 2 | Lou Reiffel | 8 | 22 | ||
| 3 | John Lewis | 17 | 4 | ||
| 4 | Norm Smith | 20 | 45 | ||
| 5 | Keith Truscott | 12 | 7 | ||
| 6 | Joe Kinnear | 10 | 0 | ||
| 7 | Hugh Murnane | 17 | 14 | ||
| 8 | Rowley Fischer | 17 | 4 | ||
| 9 | Richie Emselle | 3 | 0 | ||
| 10 | Fred Backway | 1 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Beres Reilly | 3 | 1 | ||
| 12 | Jack Mueller | 19 | 16 | ||
| 13 | Les Jones | 20 | 14 | ||
| 14 | Maurie Gibb | 10 | 15 | ||
| 15 | Ron Baggott | 18 | 51 | ||
| 16 | Eric Glass | 8 | 17 | ||
| 17 | Allan La Fontaine | 17 | 3 | ||
| 18 | Wally Lock | 13 | 8 | ||
| 19 | Frank Roberts | 15 | 4 | ||
| 20 | Harry Long | 8 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Jack Coolahan | 3 | 1 | ||
| 23 | Ray Wartman | 9 | 4 | ||
| 24 | Percy Beames | 20 | 44 | ||
| 25 | Bert Chandler | 11 | 0 | ||
| 26 | Jack Furniss | 6 | 0 | ||
| 27 | Stan Penberthy | 11 | 0 | ||
| 28 | Pat McNamara | 17 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Jock Ball | 1 | 0 | ||
| 30 | Jack Foster | 4 | 1 | ||
| 31 | Ron Barassi | 14 | 24 | ||
| 32 | Gordon Ogden | 17 | 0 | ||
| 33 | Ted Buckley | 16 | 1 | ||
Awards
Most brilliant - Jack Mueller
Best Clubman - Rowley Fischer
Most Consistent - Percy Beames
Most Improved - Wally Lock (senior) and Keith Truscott (junior)
Best Utility Player - Frank Roberts
Best Forward - Norm Smith
Best Back Man - Frank Roberts
Most Unselfish Player - Norm Smith
Special training awards - Percy Beames and Gordon Jones
Special clubman trophy - Jack Foster
Special award by the social committee - Jock Ball
Special effort award - John Lewis
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 13 | Harry Long | Elbowing | Not Guilty | ||
| PF | John Lewis | Striking | Not Guilty | ||
Seconds
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Geelong | 16 | 1 | 1 | 66 | |
| Carlton | 14 | 0 | 4 | 56 | |
| Melbourne | 13 | 0 | 5 | 52 | |
| Collingwood | 12 | 0 | 6 | 48 | |
| Fitzroy | 11 | 0 | 7 | 44 | |
| Footscray | 10 | 0 | 8 | 40 | |
| Essendon | 7 | 1 | 10 | 30 | |
| South Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 11 | 28 | |
| Richmond | 6 | 0 | 12 | 24 | |
| Hawthorn | 5 | 0 | 13 | 20 | |
| St Kilda | 4 | 0 | 14 | 16 | |
| North Melbourne | 2 | 0 | 16 | 8 | |
Finals
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| SF | Collingwood | LOSS | 72-77 | ||
Notes
This article says the awards for Roberts and Beames were simply for being 'most serviceable'.
Media
Sporting Globe - 24/03/1937
Argus - 01/04/1937, 07/04/1937, 04/05/1937, 10/02/1938
Sydney Morning Herald - 16/06/1937
Sun - 13/07/1937, 10/02/1938
Age - 18/02/1938