Captain - Coach: Percy Beames
Finishing Position: 8th
Best and Fairest: Norm Smith
Leading Goalkicker: Fred Fanning (87)
Best First Year Player: Esmond Downey
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Awards | Seconds | |
Still ravaged by the war, the VFL welcomed back Geelong but it was to be another disappointing season for the Demons. Of the 36 players to represent them in their last premiership season 24 were in the services, with just four still playing.
Despite Norm Smith moving into the centre to devastating effect, and Fred Fanning leading the league goalkicking for the second time Melbourne were once again well off the top four pace. Once again they had lost a great chunk of the previous season's side, 22 were unavailable, and debuted 16 new players amongst 46 for the season - equal most of any Melbourne season.
It was initially planned for the new season to have the same system as 1943 where the bottom club would drop out after Round 11 - and in this case the second last club would be 'retired' too - but the system was dropped mid-way through the year, with Melbourne in danger of finishing in the second last spot.
Despite missing four games when suspended for striking, Fred Fanning lead the league's goalkicking with 87 for the season. Fanning, Ron Irwin and Bill Adams were guest players in an August match to raise funds for prisoners of war.
The club spent £1627 and had £818 of income.
Melbourne's VFL delegates were Joe Blair and Bruce Hogg.
Practice match
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| RAAF | ? | ? | |||
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Richmond | LOSS | 92-132 | ||
| 2 | Essendon | LOSS | 100-120 | ||
| 3 | Carlton | LOSS | 77-92 | ||
| 4 | Geelong | WIN | 142-69 | ||
| 5 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 73-86 | ||
| 6 | Collingwood | WIN | 99-69 | ||
| 7 | North Melbourne | LOSS | 82-110 | ||
| 8 | Fitzroy | LOSS | 52-77 | ||
| 9 | Footscray | LOSS | 61-63 | ||
| 10 | South Melbourne | WIN | 70-67 | ||
| 11 | Hawthorn | WIN | 157-52 | ||
| 12 | Richmond | LOSS | 69-110 | ||
| 13 | Essendon | LOSS | 78-98 | ||
| 14 | Carlton | WIN | 54-38 | ||
| 15 | Geelong | WIN | 69-56 | ||
| 16 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 52-91 | ||
| 17 | Collingwood | LOSS | 83-102 | ||
| 18 | Hawthorn | WIN | 111-49 | ||
Exhibition Match
| Opponent | Result | Score | |||
| Ballarat League | WIN | 155-31 | |||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Richmond | 13 | 1 | 4 | 131.2 | 54 |
| Fitzroy | 13 | 1 | 4 | 131.1 | 54 |
| Essendon | 12 | 2 | 4 | 134.0 | 52 |
| Footscray | 12 | 1 | 5 | 106.9 | 50 |
| Carlton | 12 | 0 | 6 | 131.5 | 48 |
| North Melbourne | 10 | 0 | 8 | 100.3 | 40 |
| South Melbourne | 9 | 0 | 9 | 96.9 | 36 |
| Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 11 | 102.7 | 28 |
| St. Kilda | 6 | 2 | 10 | 90.4 | 28 |
| Collingwood | 7 | 0 | 11 | 89.1 | 28 |
| Hawthorn | 2 | 1 | 15 | 66.2 | 10 |
| Geelong | 1 | 0 | 17 | 58.6 | 4 |
Playing List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Ron Kimberley | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1 | Jack Compton | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2 | Roy Dowsing | 14 | 6 | ||
| 3 | Ron Irwin | 18 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Norm Smith | 18 | 3 | ||
| 5 | Billy Deans | 18 | 4 | ||
| 6 | Fred Fanning | 14 | 87 | ||
| 7 | Clem Conroy | 2 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Ivan Porter | 2 | 3 | ||
| 10 | Gordon Kramer | 9 | 1 | ||
| 11 | Norm Matthews | 4 | 1 | ||
| 12 | Jack Mueller | 5 | 6 | ||
| 13 | Frank Scanlan | 3 | 0 | ||
| 14 | George Archibald | 16 | 2 | ||
| 15 | Colin Bradley | 3 | 0 | ||
| 16 | Hughie McPherson | 11 | 6 | ||
| 17 | Tom Bush | 1 | 0 | ||
| 18 | Darcy Walsh | 3 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Lloyd Bennett | 9 | 4 | ||
| 20 | Harry New | 1 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Bob Herbert | 13 | 13 | ||
| 21 | Don Cordner | 18 | 2 | ||
| 22 | Shane McGrath | 2 | 0 | ||
| 22 | Tony Bizzaca | 2 | 1 | ||
| 23 | Jack Doherty | 2 | 0 | ||
| 24 | Percy Beames | 18 | 17 | ||
| 25 | Col McLean | 18 | 0 | ||
| 26 | Doug Heywood | 16 | 8 | ||
| 27 | Col Galbraith | 4 | 0 | ||
| 28 | Percy Taylor | 7 | 17 | ||
| 29 | Ken Levey | 7 | 0 | ||
| 31 | Les Gibbs | 1 | 0 | ||
| 32 | Jack Minnis | 12 | 1 | ||
| 33 | Frank McGrath | 2 | 1 | ||
| 33 | Warren Lewis | 4 | 3 | ||
| 34 | Neil Bencraft | 2 | 3 | ||
| 35 | Charlie Newman | 7 | 0 | ||
| 36 | Esmond Downey | 16 | 7 | ||
| 37 | Jack Maher | 4 | 2 | ||
| 37 | Bryan Crimmins | 1 | 0 | ||
| 38 | Bill Scanlan | 10 | 12 | ||
| 39 | Jack Stock | 9 | 0 | ||
| 39 | Frank Kennedy | 6 | 4 | ||
| Ron Hall | 3 | 0 | |||
| Don Hewson | 1 | 0 | |||
| Jim Ryan | 1 | 0 | |||
Best and Fairest
| Place | Player | ||||
| 1st | Norm Smith | ||||
| 2nd | Don Cordner | ||||
Other Awards
Best Clubman - Roy Dowsing
Most Outstanding and Special Goalkicking - Fred Fanning
Most Improved - Ron Irwin
Most Determined - Percy Beames and Hughie McPherson
Best Utility - Billy Deans and George Archibald
Most Dependable - Col McLean
Most Promising Performances - Doug Heywood, Bill Scanlan and Frank Kennedy
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 11 | Fred Fanning | Striking | 4 matches | ||
| Round 16 | Roy Dowsing | Striking | Not Guilty | ||
Seconds
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Footscray | 14 | 0 | 4 | 125.0 | 56 |
| Fitzroy | 13 | 1 | 4 | 134.0 | 54 |
| Collingwood | 13 | 0 | 5 | 145.6 | 52 |
| St Kilda | 12 | 0 | 6 | 122.6 | 48 |
| Carlton | 10 | 1 | 7 | 108.0 | 42 |
| South Melbourne | 9 | 0 | 9 | 86.4 | 36 |
| North Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 10 | 87.0 | 32 |
| Geelong | 8 | 0 | 10 | 86.1 | 32 |
| Essendon | 6 | 0 | 12 | 98.9 | 24 |
| Richmond | 5 | 0 | 13 | 81.7 | 20 |
| Hawthorn | 4 | 1 | 13 | 82.1 | 18 |
| Melbourne | 4 | 1 | 13 | 77.7 | 18 |
Notes
A charity practice match may have been played against Hawthorn on 29 April, but the league appears to have rejected the concept.
Media
Football Record R1 1944
Australasian - 24/06/1944
Herald - 02/08/1944
Argus - 23/11/1944
Herald - 21/02/1945
Barrier Daily Truth - 06/02/1946