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1938

Coach: Frank Hughes
Captain: Ivor Warne-Smith
Finishing Position: 5th
Best and Fairest: Norm Smith
Leading Goalkicker: Norm Smith (80)
Best First Year Player: Dick Hingston

Matches Ladder Playing List Seconds
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At the start of the season a clearance war broke out between the VFL and the VFA, with both leagues accepting players from the other without a clearance from their original club.

The Demons, who had finished second and been knocked out of the finals in two games in 1937, served notice that they were going to be contenders with an upset victory of Geelong on their own ground but inconsistency cost them dearly as the year wore on.

Melbourne's form collapsed when the rains came and league grounds turned into mud pits. A three game losing streak from Round 10 to 12 was cancelled out by three straight wins, but the side then fell apart again and lost two of their last three games.

Having given themselves an outside chance by defeating top of the ladder Carlton in Round 17, the Demons were then thrown into a virtual Elimination Final against Collingwood in the last round they lost and finished a game outside the four.

On Wednesday 13 July a combined team made up of Melbourne and St Kilda players lost 7.19 to 16.13 against a travelling East Fremantle team. The combined side was captained by Melbourne's Bill Adams.

During the year Melbourne lobbied the league for a change in the out of bounds rule that would mean only kicks out on the full led to free kicks, rather than any ball which crossed the line.

Receipts were 2994p and expenditure was 3892p.

Melbourne's delegates to the league were Joe Blair and Vernon Ransford.

Premiership Season

RoundOppositionResultScore
1 GeelongWIN132-115
2 HawthornLOSS92-111
3 FitzroyWIN116-83
4 South MelbourneWIN153-101
5 FootscrayLOSS72-76
6 CarltonWIN107-102
7 CollingwoodWIN115-101
8 North MelbourneWIN122-92
9 St. KildaWIN112-96
10 RichmondLOSS68-89
11 EssendonLOSS79-85
12 GeelongLOSS74-92
13 HawthornWIN70-69
14 FitzroyWIN96-96
15 South MelbourneWIN99-70
16 FootscrayLOSS91-131
17 CarltonLOSS96-79
18 CollingwoodLOSS82-91

Exhibition Match

OppositionResult
Bendigo League WIN144-85

Ladder

WDL%P
Carlton1404116.156
Geelong1305129.252
Footscray1305124.352
Collingwood1206117.648
Melbourne1107106.044
Richmond1008111.840
Essendon909102.336
St. Kilda90991.836
North Melbourne601274.724
Fitzroy501388.620
Hawthorn401482.416
South Melbourne201671.88

Playing List

NumberPlayerGamesGoals
1 Gordon Jones 150
2 Lou Reiffel 1018
3 John Lewis 123
4 Norm Smith 1880
5 Keith Truscott 114
7 Hugh Murnane 1711
8 Rowley Fischer 152
9 Richie Emselle 143
10 Maurie Gibb 52
10 Len Catton 20
11 Sid Meehl 10
12 Jack Mueller 137
13 Les Jones 149
14 Jack Maher 95
15 Ron Baggott 1232
16 Eric Glass 813
17 Allan La Fontaine 164
18 Wally Lock 172
19 Frank Roberts 160
20 Frank Williams 221
21 Geoff McNaughton 21
22 Harry Harley 62
23 Ray Wartman 183
24 Percy Beames 1637
25 Ted Regan 40
26 Jack Furniss 160
28 Pat McNamara 100
29 Harden Dean 20
30 Jack Foster 10
31 Ron Barassi 1318
32 Dick Hingston 140
33 Ted Buckley 132

Best and Fairest

Player
1st Norm Smith

Other Awards
Most Consistent - Percy Beames
Most Improved - Gordon Jones
Most Accomplished - Wally Lock
Best Clubman - Ron Baggott
Most Brilliant - Jack Mueller
Most Unselfish - Ron Barassi
Most Determined - Frank Roberts
Special Efforts - Jack Furniss
Tribunal

RoundPlayerChargeSanction
Round 5 Jack Mueller Elbowing 4 matches
Round 15 Frank Roberts Striking Guilty
Round 15 Ron Barassi Attempted Striking 2 matches

Seconds

1938 Seconds season
Captain - Geoff McNaughton
Leading goalkicker - Fred Fanning - 106

WDL%P
Collingwood160264
Geelong151262
Carlton150360
Footscray130552
Richmond91838
Melbourne81936
Essendon801032
Fitzroy701128
South Melbourne501320
Hawthorn401416
North Melbourne401416
St Kilda211510

Notes
There may have been pre-season games against Brighton, Brunswick and Prahran.

Media
Argus - 23/04/1938
Football Record R14 1938
Mercury - 22/07/1938
West Australian - 27/07/1938
Argus - 04/10/1938
Argus - 08/02/1939

Created by Supermercado. Last Modification: Tuesday 26 February 2019 16:52:06 AEDT by Supermercado. (Version 30)

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