Coach: Norm Smith
Captain: Ron Barassi
Finishing Position: 1st (Premiers)
Best and Fairest: Ron Barassi
Leading Goalkicker: John Townsend (35)
Best First Year Player: Graeme Jacobs
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Tribunal | Reserves | Under 19s |
Melbourne looked to have run out of steam midway through 1963 after years of losing veteran players, before recovering to qualify for a Preliminary Final. The club's annual report was full of praise, reading “the challenge of the years 1962 and 1963 has been answered most stirringly by the coach, officials and the team.” Many expected that this would be the year they fell away, but Norm Smith said “Prospects for 1964 look rosy. The young players are bound to improve and we have recruited well.” He also praised the leadership of captain Barassi and vice-captain Dixon who he said would come in handy with a new rule that only allowed runners, or messengers as they were known, to talk to a side’s on-field leaders. Dixon was then replaced as vice-captain by Hassa Mann, who was being groomed as Barassi's successor. Bryan Kenneally became deputy vice-captain in place of Frank Adams.
It was the first season where VFL goal and behind posts were padded to prevent injuries to players. Other rule changes involved runners only being able to pass messages to captains or vice-captains, but this proved controversial and was rescinded in early June. The break between the first and second quarter was extended from three to four minutes to allow coaches to address players. The father/son rule extended from just players with 50 games experience to cover president, vice-president, treasurer, secretary, assistant secretary, coach or a member of the committee with 10 years service.
Two losses in their first four games let Melbourne vulnerable, before a winning streak carried them back into top two. In a tight top four race, they weren't assured of a finals spot until a thrilling win over Hawthorn in the second last round, before unexpectedly finishing on top after Geelong lost in the final round. Collingwood was unexpectedly steamrolled in the Semi Final, before winning through to a Grand Final rematch. The Demons started hot favourites but were nearly beaten, relying on back pocket Neil Crompton to kick a goal when playing forward against coaches' orders, then surviving a frantic final few seconds with the ball in front of the Magpie goal. Earlier on Grand Final day, the Under 19s had won a premiership.
At the end of the season, Ron Barassi became the first reigning premiership captain to change clubs when he accepted an offer to become captain/coach of Carlton. Norm Smith offered to stand aside and allow Barassi to coach Melbourne, but he crossed to Princes Park once the Demon committee finally relented early in 1965.
Melbourne's VFL delegates were Arthur King and Tom Trumble. Despite the premiership the club was not as not as financially successful as in previous years. They had receipts of £39,708 against expenditure of £43,474 for a loss of £3766. The club would have made a profit if it wasn't for a £7080 levy payable to the VFL, including £2551 for the construction of Waverley.
There were negotiations to play games against a Northwest Tasmanian team and a replay against Collingwood in Sydney but neither happened.
Practice match
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Hampden League | WIN | 184-22 | |||
Premiership season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Geelong | LOSS | 97-110 | ||
| 2 | North Melbourne | WIN | 77-61 | ||
| 3 | Carlton | WIN | 79-33 | ||
| 4 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 67-93 | ||
| 5 | Essendon | WIN | 85-53 | ||
| 6 | Hawthorn | WIN | 73-68 | ||
| 7 | Footscray | WIN | 86-44 | ||
| 8 | Fitzroy | WIN | 118-51 | ||
| 9 | Collingwood | WIN | 73-63 | ||
| 10 | Richmond | WIN | 156-43 | ||
| 11 | South Melbourne | WIN | 129-83 | ||
| 12 | Geelong | WIN | 75-21 | ||
| 13 | North Melbourne | WIN | 123-51 | ||
| 14 | Carlton | WIN | 80-68 | ||
| 15 | St. Kilda | WIN | 55-37 | ||
| 16 | Essendon | LOSS | 48-50 | ||
| 17 | Hawthorn | WIN | 73-69 | ||
| 18 | Footscray | LOSS | 38-78 | ||
| SF | Collingwood | WIN | 134-45 | ||
| GF | Collingwood | WIN | 64-60 | ||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Melbourne | 14 | 0 | 4 | 138.1 | 56 |
| Collingwood | 13 | 1 | 4 | 133.2 | 54 |
| Essendon | 13 | 1 | 4 | 130.2 | 54 |
| Geelong | 13 | 1 | 4 | 127.4 | 54 |
| Hawthorn | 13 | 0 | 5 | 121.0 | 52 |
| St. Kilda | 10 | 0 | 8 | 118.4 | 40 |
| Footscray | 9 | 0 | 9 | 88.1 | 36 |
| North Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 10 | 87.2 | 32 |
| Richmond | 6 | 0 | 12 | 84.9 | 24 |
| Carlton | 5 | 1 | 12 | 90.3 | 22 |
| South Melbourne | 2 | 0 | 16 | 68.0 | 8 |
| Fitzroy | 0 | 0 | 18 | 59.7 | 0 |
Exhibition Match
| Opposition | Result | ||||
| South Adelaide | WIN | 68-57 | |||
Playing List
| Number | Name | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Rob Foster | 2 | 1 | ||
| 3 | Maurie Bartlett | 3 | 1 | ||
| 4 | John Lord | 8 | 14 | ||
| 5 | Neil Crompton | 19 | 1 | ||
| 6 | Frank Adams | 15 | 1 | ||
| 7 | Owen Zinko | 2 | 3 | ||
| 8 | Tassie Johnson | 19 | 2 | ||
| 9 | Brian Dixon | 17 | 1 | ||
| 10 | Ken Emselle | 20 | 24 | ||
| 11 | Tony Anderson | 16 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Barry Bourke | 20 | 28 | ||
| 15 | Ray Groom | 12 | 9 | ||
| 16 | John Townsend | 20 | 35 | ||
| 17 | Graeme Watson | 13 | 2 | ||
| 18 | Brian Roet | 15 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Bob Carroll | 1 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Graeme Jacobs | 16 | 33 | ||
| 21 | Brian Leahy | 14 | 1 | ||
| 22 | Bryan Kenneally | 20 | 15 | ||
| 23 | Graham Wise | 19 | 1 | ||
| 28 | David Robbie | 6 | 4 | ||
| 29 | Hassa Mann | 19 | 15 | ||
| 31 | Ron Barassi | 18 | 25 | ||
| 32 | Barrie Vagg | 20 | 22 | ||
| 33 | Robert Miller | 5 | 0 | ||
| 34 | Len Mann | 4 | 0 | ||
| 35 | Don Williams | 17 | 1 | ||
| 36 | Peter McLean | 10 | 1 | ||
| 37 | Bernie Massey | 18 | 0 | ||
| 38 | Jim Leitch | 2 | 0 | ||
| 39 | Herbie Matthews | 4 | 0 | ||
| 40 | Frank Davis | 6 | 1 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | |||||
| 1st | Ron Barassi | ||||
| 2nd | Hassa Mann | ||||
| 3rd | Brian Dixon | ||||
| 4th | Bryan Kenneally | ||||
| 5th | John Townsend | ||||
Awards
Outstanding Service - Bryan Kenneally, John Townsend and Ray Groom
Most Improved - Graham Wise
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 9 Reserves | Maurie Bartlett | Striking | 2 weeks | ||
Reserves
Best and Fairest - Jim Leitch
Second Best and Fairest - Frank Davis
Outstanding Service - Bob Lynch, John Lord, Peter McLean
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Collingwood | 16 | 0 | 2 | 152.5 | 64 |
| Geelong | 15 | 1 | 2 | 146.2 | 62 |
| Richmond | 11 | 0 | 7 | 113.5 | 44 |
| Footscray | 11 | 0 | 7 | 106.3 | 44 |
| Hawthorn | 10 | 1 | 7 | 126.4 | 42 |
| Melbourne | 10 | 0 | 8 | 113.8 | 40 |
| North Melbourne | 8 | 2 | 8 | 100.1 | 36 |
| Carlton | 7 | 10 | 1 | 105.2 | 30 |
| St Kilda | 6 | 0 | 12 | 80.0 | 24 |
| Essendon | 5 | 1 | 12 | 84.6 | 22 |
| South Melbourne | 3 | 0 | 15 | 62.9 | 12 |
| Fitzroy | 3 | 0 | 15 | 61.5 | 12 |
Under 19s
Captain - Neville Stone
Vice-Captain - Rick Feldmann
Best and Fairest - Bob Russell
Second Best and Fairest - John Millard
Best Clubman - Rod McNab
Best First Year Player - George Griffiths
Most Improved - W. Adams
Most Consistent - A. Schultz
Leading goalkicker - Rod McNab (52 goals)
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Melbourne | 16 | 0 | 2 | 136.7 | 64 |
| Collingwood | 15 | 0 | 3 | 150.5 | 60 |
| Richmond | 15 | 0 | 3 | 137.8 | 60 |
| North Melbourne | 11 | 0 | 7 | 130.1 | 44 |
| Footscray | 10 | 0 | 8 | 125.6 | 40 |
| Essendon | 9 | 0 | 9 | 99.9 | 36 |
| Hawthorn | 9 | 0 | 9 | 93.6 | 36 |
| Geelong | 7 | 0 | 11 | 92.4 | 28 |
| St Kilda | 6 | 0 | 12 | 89.6 | 24 |
| Carlton | 5 | 0 | 13 | 87.7 | 20 |
| South Melbourne | 4 | 0 | 14 | 66.1 | 16 |
| Fitzroy | 1 | 0 | 17 | 48.4 | 4 |
Finals
| Round | Opposition | Result | |||
| SF | Collingwood | LOSS | |||
| PF | Richmond | WIN | |||
| GF | Collingwood | WIN | |||
Fourths
Best and Fairest - John Sinclair
Second Best and Fairest - J. Little
Best Clubman - Greg Smith
Most Consistent - C. Kinnear
Outstanding service - Rob Dowsing, K. D'Arcy
Notes
A practice match may have been played against Old Scotch on Saturday 11/04 (Age 11/04) but more likely this was an intra-club game at Old Scotch Oval.
Media
Age - 30/01/1964, 20/02/1964, 22/02/1964, 04/04/1964, 04/06/1964, 21/09/1964
Football Record - R1 1964, R2 1964, R3 1964