Coach: John Northey
Captain: Greg Healy
Finishing Position: 4th
Best and Fairest: Alan Johnson
Leading Goalkicker: Darren Bennett 34
Best First Year Player: Luke Beveridge
Major Sponsors: Drake
Members: 8184
Financial result: +$157,601
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Best and Fairest | Reserves | Under 19s |
Coming off the simultaneous triumph and tragedy of making the 1988 Grand Final, only to be thrashed by a record margin, the Demons adopted a new logo and set their sights on going one better in 1989.
They started the year well, winning their second pre-season competition in three years. As they progressed through the Panasonic Cup, practice matches against Geelong in Colac and Carlton at Princes Park were cancelled.
For the third year in a row, Melbourne scraped into the finals, battling an injury crisis that had up to 18 players out late in the year. They made it despite only winning one of their last six games. Such was the even nature of the ladder that they may still have snuck a double chance without a loss to St Kilda in the second last round. It left them as one of the few teams to qualify for the finals with a percentage of less than a hundred.
The city's wettest winter in nearly 40 years seriously affected games in the middle of the season, contributing to Melbourne scoring 20 points against Geelong Round 12. No games were played on the MCG in Round 18 and Round 19 to help the surface recover before finals.
They recovered form in the first week of the finals before Geelong proved a sterner test in the Semi Final, ending their season.
End of season exhibition matches were played in Toronto and London.
At the conclusion of the year, the league altered the metropolitan zones of Victorian clubs. The shires of Whittlesea (centred around Epping) and Bulla (Sunbury) were removed from Melbourne. In their place came the City of Springvale, South and West Wards of Dandenong South, the East Ward of Oakland, and the South Ward of Waverley, which were formerly St Kilda territory.
Practice Matches
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| St Kilda | LOSS | 90-144 | |||
Panasonic Cup
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Sydney | WIN | 64-47 | ||
| QF | Fitzroy | WIN | 73-70 | ||
| SF | West Coast | WIN | 55-54 | ||
| F | Geelong | WIN | 76-67 | ||
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Fitzroy | WIN | 116-111 | ||
| 2 | Essendon | LOSS | 68-94 | ||
| 3 | Richmond | WIN | 122-61 | ||
| 4 | Brisbane Bears | WIN | 79-53 | ||
| 5 | Footscray | WIN | 82-71 | ||
| 6 | Collingwood | LOSS | 64-124 | ||
| 7 | Carlton | WIN | 86-80 | ||
| 8 | West Coast | WIN | 95-93 | ||
| 9 | Sydney | WIN | 52-43 | ||
| 10 | North Melbourne | WIN | 113-83 | ||
| 11 | Hawthorn | WIN | 69-54 | ||
| 12 | Geelong | LOSS | 20-89 | ||
| 13 | St. Kilda | WIN | 64-56 | ||
| 14 | Brisbane Bears | WIN | 113-99 | ||
| 15 | North Melbourne | WIN | 117-81 | ||
| 16 | Geelong | WIN | 112-109 | ||
| 17 | Carlton | LOSS | 79-106 | ||
| 18 | Fitzroy | LOSS | 103-151 | ||
| 19 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 63-87 | ||
| 20 | Sydney | WIN | 98-87 | ||
| 21 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 72-104 | ||
| 22 | Essendon | LOSS | 89-108 | ||
| EF | Collingwood | WIN | 111-88 | ||
| SF | Geelong | LOSS | 90-153 | ||
Exhibition Matches
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Geelong | WIN | 90-103 | |||
| Essendon | WIN | 46-82 | |||
Playing List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Steve O'Dwyer | 17 | 6 | ||
| 3 | Garry Lyon | 15 | 20 | ||
| 4 | Tony Campbell | 14 | 11 | ||
| 5 | Earl Spalding | 19 | 19 | ||
| 6 | Glenn Lovett | 5 | 0 | ||
| 7 | Brian Wilson | 18 | 26 | ||
| 8 | Graeme Yeats | 16 | 8 | ||
| 9 | Alan Johnson | 20 | 4 | ||
| 10 | Danny Hughes | 19 | 4 | ||
| 11 | Jim Stynes | 24 | 17 | ||
| 12 | Todd Viney | 9 | 6 | ||
| 13 | Tom Kavanagh | 2 | 1 | ||
| 14 | Rod Grinter | 19 | 4 | ||
| 16 | Andy Lovell | 1 | 0 | ||
| 17 | Brett Lovett | 24 | 1 | ||
| 18 | Steven Stretch | 22 | 11 | ||
| 19 | Darren Bennett | 13 | 34 | ||
| 21 | Steven Febey | 20 | 3 | ||
| 22 | Chris Connolly | 10 | 4 | ||
| 23 | Warren Dean | 6 | 5 | ||
| 24 | Bret Bailey | 9 | 3 | ||
| 25 | Simon Eishold | 16 | 7 | ||
| 27 | Sean Wight | 19 | 15 | ||
| 28 | Jamie Duursma | 20 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Dean Chiron | 2 | 0 | ||
| 30 | Dannie Seow | 5 | 2 | ||
| 33 | Greg Healy | 21 | 24 | ||
| 34 | Stephen Newport | 20 | 15 | ||
| 37 | David Flintoff | 12 | 10 | ||
| 41 | Peter Rohde | 14 | 4 | ||
| 45 | Ricky Jackson | 18 | 15 | ||
| 47 | John Ahern | 2 | 0 | ||
| 48 | Luke Beveridge | 12 | 7 | ||
| 51 | John Howat | 5 | 4 | ||
| 52 | Stephen Tingay | 12 | 5 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | Votes | ||||
| 1st | Alan Johnson | 278 | |||
| 2nd | Steven Stretch | 207 | |||
| 3rd | Garry Lyon | 206 | |||
| 4th | Stephen Newport | 204 | |||
| 5th | Steven Febey | 200 | |||
| 6th | Steve ODwyer | 162 | |||
| 7th | Jim Stynes | 158 | |||
| 8th | Greg Healy | 153 | |||
| 8th | Brett Lovett | 153 | |||
| 10th | Earl Spalding | 109 | |||
| 11th | Brian Wilson | 88 | |||
| 12th | Rod Grinter | 63 | |||
| 13th | David Flintoff | 49 | |||
| 14th | Sean Wight | 48 | |||
| 15th | Todd Viney | 43 | |||
| 16th | Luke Beveridge | 24 | |||
| 17th | Chris Connolly | 23 | |||
| 18th | Glenn Lovett | 19 | |||
| 19th | Jamie Duursma | 16 | |||
| 20th | Dannie Seow | 12 | |||
| 21st | Bret Bailey | 7 | |||
Awards
Most Consistent - Alan Johnson
Redlegs Trophy - Alan Johnson
Most Improved - Steven Febey
Best Team Player - Stephen Newport
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 2 | Rod Grinter | Striking | 5 matches | ||
| Round 3 | Jamie Duursma | Striking | Not Guilty | ||
| Round 13 | Jim Stynes | Striking | Not Guilty | ||
| Round 15 | Steve O'Dwyer | Abusive Language | Not Guilty | ||
| Round 15 Reserves | Peter Rennie | Striking | Unknown | ||
| Round 17 Reserves | Anthony Graham | Abusive language | Unknown | ||
| Round 18 | Luke Beveridge | Striking | Not Guilty | ||
| Round 18 | Brian Wilson | Striking | Not Guilty | ||
| SF | Tony Campbell | Striking | Not Guilty | ||
| Exhibition Match vs Essendon | Luke Beveridge | Unduly Rough Play | Not Guilty | ||
Reserves
1989 Reserves season
Best and Fairest - Luke Beveridge
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Carlton | 16 | 0 | 4 | 129.8 | 64 |
| Geelong | 15 | 0 | 5 | 154.4 | 60 |
| Essendon | 15 | 0 | 5 | 125.0 | 60 |
| Footscray | 13 | 0 | 7 | 136.4 | 52 |
| Fitzroy | 13 | 0 | 7 | 123.8 | 52 |
| North Melbourne | 12 | 0 | 8 | 119.1 | 48 |
| Collingwood | 11 | 0 | 9 | 115.8 | 44 |
| Hawthorn | 9 | 1 | 10 | 92.7 | 38 |
| Sydney | 9 | 0 | 11 | 92.2 | 36 |
| Richmond | 7 | 0 | 13 | 66.3 | 28 |
| Melbourne | 4 | 0 | 16 | 68.5 | 16 |
| Brisbane | 3 | 0 | 17 | 75.7 | 12 |
| St Kilda | 1 | 1 | 18 | 61.1 | 6 |
Under 19s
1989 Under 19s Season
Best and Fairest - Darren Cuthbertson
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| North Melbourne | 19 | 0 | 3 | 179.3 | 76 |
| Essendon | 18 | 0 | 4 | 144.5 | 72 |
| Richmond | 15 | 0 | 7 | 123.0 | 60 |
| Geelong | 13 | 0 | 9 | 120.1 | 52 |
| Carlton | 12 | 0 | 10 | 112.7 | 48 |
| Melbourne | 10 | 0 | 12 | 95.8 | 40 |
| St Kilda | 9 | 0 | 13 | 85.1 | 36 |
| Sydney | 8 | 1 | 13 | 85.2 | 34 |
| Fitzroy | 8 | 0 | 14 | 79.2 | 32 |
| Footscray | 7 | 0 | 15 | 82.9 | 28 |
| Hawthorn | 5 | 0 | 17 | 64.3 | 20 |
Media
Canberra Times - 16/03/1989
Inside Football - 02/08/1989
Teamworks - Spring 1989