Coach: Norm Smith
Captain: John Beckwith
Finishing Position: 1st (Premiers)
Best and Fairest: John Beckwith
Leading Goalkicker: Athol Webb (56)
Best First Year Player: Geoff Tunbridge
Members: 3550
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Tribunal | Seconds | Thirds |
After two consecutive premierships, the Demons lost a wealth of experience before the new season. Both captain Noel McMahen and vice-captain Ken Melville moved on, along with Best and Fairest Stuart Spencer, Geoff McGivern, Ralph Lane and Denis Cordner. John Beckwith and Ron Barassi became the youngest leadership team in the league - 24 and 21 years old respectively.
Melbourne wasn't expected to be as dominant as 1956, and a year after Smith had the luxury of using just 27 players for the season, he had to field 13 debutantes amongst 36 players used. Resurfacing works on the MCG further complicated the start to the year by forcing the side to Olympic Park for pre-season training. The road to a minor premiership was more difficult than it had been in 1956, losing two of their first four games and registering the lowest points total of any first place side in the 12 team era. Despite finishing first, they lost the to Essendon, and had to earn their rematch with the Bombers via the Preliminary Final. They made amends by beating Essendon in the Grand Final.
The night series was expanded to all 12 sides for the first time.
Melbourne made a profit of approximately £2000. Their VFL delegates were Bert Chadwick and Dick Taylor.
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Fitzroy | LOSS | 50-53 | ||
| 2 | Collingwood | WIN | 80-72 | ||
| 3 | Essendon | WIN | 86-41 | ||
| 4 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 33-51 | ||
| 5 | St. Kilda | WIN | 119-90 | ||
| 6 | South Melbourne | WIN | 114-51 | ||
| 7 | Richmond | LOSS | 50-52 | ||
| 8 | Carlton | WIN | 99-71 | ||
| 9 | Geelong | WIN | 154-94 | ||
| 10 | North Melbourne | WIN | 109-78 | ||
| 11 | Footscray | WIN | 87-51 | ||
| 12 | Fitzroy | WIN | 158-74 | ||
| 13 | Collingwood | DRAW | 49-49 | ||
| 14 | Essendon | WIN | 73-72 | ||
| 15 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 66-73 | ||
| 16 | St. Kilda | WIN | 49-11 | ||
| 17 | South Melbourne | LOSS | 71-75 | ||
| 18 | Richmond | WIN | 120-71 | ||
| SF | Essendon | LOSS | 67-83 | ||
| PF | Hawthorn | WIN | 144-76 | ||
| GF | Essendon | WIN | 116-55 | ||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Melbourne | 12 | 1 | 5 | 138.8 | 50 |
| Essendon | 11 | 0 | 7 | 118.3 | 44 |
| Hawthorn | 11 | 0 | 7 | 116.7 | 44 |
| Carlton | 11 | 0 | 7 | 99.5 | 44 |
| Collingwood | 9 | 1 | 8 | 101.8 | 38 |
| Footscray | 9 | 1 | 8 | 99.1 | 38 |
| Richmond | 9 | 0 | 9 | 93.9 | 36 |
| North Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 10 | 95.1 | 32 |
| St. Kilda | 8 | 0 | 10 | 94.5 | 32 |
| South Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 11 | 88.8 | 28 |
| Fitzroy | 6 | 0 | 12 | 84.1 | 24 |
| Geelong | 5 | 1 | 12 | 88.2 | 22 |
Exhibition Match
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Wimmera League | WIN | 133-28 | |||
| Carlton | WIN | 51-45 | |||
Night Series
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | BYE | ||||
| 2 | Footscray | LOSS | 56-82 | ||
Playing list
| Number | Name | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Dick Fenton-Smith | 18 | 18 | ||
| 3 | Peter Marquis | 17 | 0 | ||
| 4 | John Lord | 14 | 0 | ||
| 5 | Ian McLean | 20 | 8 | ||
| 6 | Frank Adams | 14 | 17 | ||
| 7 | Geoff Case | 18 | 11 | ||
| 8 | Jim Sandral | 7 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Brian Dixon | 21 | 2 | ||
| 10 | Bob Turner | 2 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Laurie Mithen | 12 | 1 | ||
| 12 | Neil Crompton | 1 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Trevor Johnson | 17 | 3 | ||
| 15 | Athol Webb | 21 | 56 | ||
| 16 | Bob Johnson | 18 | 29 | ||
| 18 | Kevin Mithen | 1 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Keith Carroll | 10 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Graeme Pinfold | 6 | 1 | ||
| 21 | Peter Cook | 6 | 3 | ||
| 22 | Ben Crameri | 2 | 0 | ||
| 23 | Geoff Tunbridge | 20 | 32 | ||
| 24 | Ian Ridley | 21 | 33 | ||
| 25 | Don Williams | 21 | 1 | ||
| 26 | Ian Thorogood | 17 | 1 | ||
| 27 | Denis Jones | 2 | 0 | ||
| 28 | Terry Gleeson | 16 | 5 | ||
| 29 | Tony Bull | 1 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Brian Dunsford | 7 | 1 | ||
| 30 | John Beckwith | 21 | 0 | ||
| 31 | Ron Barassi | 21 | 30 | ||
| 32 | Graham Kerr | 3 | 0 | ||
| 33 | Colin Wilson | 16 | 1 | ||
| 35 | Clyde Laidlaw | 6 | 3 | ||
| 36 | Dick Atkinson | 4 | 0 | ||
| 37 | Terry Mountain | 3 | 1 | ||
| 38 | Peter Brenchley | 15 | 8 | ||
| 39 | Bill Byrne | 1 | 0 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | |||||
| 1st | John Beckwith | ||||
| 2nd | Ron Barassi | ||||
| 3rd | Geoff Tunbridge | ||||
Awards
Best Clubman Trophy - Jim Sandral
Most Improved Player - Colin Wilson
Fred Pleass Special Trophy - Athol Webb
Outstanding Service - Robert B Johnson, Ian Ridley, Brian Dixon, Don Williams
Seconds
Leading goalkicker - Graeme Wilkinson (49)
Best and Fairest - Robert Hayes
Second Best and Fairest - Ben Crameri
Best First Year Player - George Milner
Best Clubman - Don Thorne
Most Improved - Kevin Mithen
Outstanding Service - Terry Mountain, Peter Cook, Graeme Wilkinson
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| North Melbourne | 15 | 0 | 3 | 129.8 | 60 |
| Fitzroy | 14 | 0 | 4 | 121.2 | 56 |
| Essendon | 12 | 0 | 6 | 113.0 | 48 |
| St Kilda | 12 | 0 | 6 | 110.0 | 48 |
| Footscray | 11 | 0 | 7 | 123.0 | 44 |
| Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 10 | 98.5 | 32 |
| Richmond | 7 | 1 | 10 | 106.4 | 30 |
| Collingwood | 7 | 0 | 11 | 94.5 | 28 |
| South Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 11 | 78.6 | 28 |
| Hawthorn | 6 | 0 | 11 | 92.1 | 26 |
| Geelong | 5 | 0 | 13 | 85.5 | 20 |
| Carlton | 3 | 0 | 15 | 74.6 | 12 |
Thirds
Captain - Kevin Boyle
Best and Fairest - Neil Campbell
Second Best and Fairest - Bernie Massey
Most improved - G. Harris
Outstanding service - Lance Rolfe, Kevin Boyle
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| St Kilda | 12 | 1 | 3 | 147.9 | 50 |
| South Melbourne | 12 | 1 | 3 | 143.7 | 50 |
| Carlton | 12 | 1 | 3 | 141.5 | 50 |
| Collingwood | 12 | 0 | 4 | 150.0 | 48 |
| Hawthorn | 11 | 0 | 5 | 110.3 | 44 |
| Essendon | 7 | 1 | 8 | 99.0 | 30 |
| Fitzroy | 7 | 1 | 8 | 92.5 | 30 |
| North Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 10 | 88.7 | 24 |
| Geelong | 6 | 0 | 10 | 77.5 | 24 |
| Melbourne | 3 | 1 | 12 | 58.5 | 14 |
| Footscray | 2 | 2 | 12 | 77.8 | 12 |
| Richmond | 2 | 0 | 14 | 66.2 | 8 |
Fourths
Best and Fairest - Malcolm Innes
Second Best and Fairest - Robert Anderson
Third Best and Fairest - Noel Bosch
Notes
Football Record shows the Seconds ladder as above, with only one draw listed.
Media
Age - 15/04/1957
Football Record 1957 Finals