| Club: | Melbourne Football Club |
| Season: | 2014 |
| President: | Glen Bartlett (1st season) |
| Coach: | Paul Roos (1st season) |
| Captain: | Jack Grimes (3rd season) Nathan Jones (1st season) |
| Home Ground: | MCG (100,024 capacity) |
| Preseason Comp: | Pre-season |
| Preseason Result: | 1 win, 2 losses |
| Regularseason Comp: | AFL season |
| Regularseason Result: | 17th |
| Finals Series: | Finals series |
| Finals Result: | DNQ |
| Club B&Amp;F: | Best and fairest |
| Best And Fairest: | Nathan Jones |
| Leading Goalscorer: | Chris Dawes (20 goals) |
| Highest Attendance: | 68,124 (round 12 vs.) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 5,655 (round 11 vs.) |
| Average Attendance: | 25,638 |
| Club Membership: | 35,911 (2,734 / 8.26%) |
| Prevseason: | 2013 |
| Nextseason: | 2015 |
The 2014 Melbourne Football Club season was the club's 115th year in the VFL/AFL since it began in 1897.
On the back of three seasons stemming back to 2011, Melbourne underwent changes to its football department in 2013. The most significant of these changes included the appointment of 2005 premiership coach Paul Roos for two seasons (with an option of a third season).[1] It also saw the temporary appointment of former CEO, Peter Jackson, as Melbourne's new CEO for two seasons and the appointment of former Bernie Naylor Medalist Glen Bartlett as president.
Due to Melbourne's on-field performances in recent seasons, Melbourne received a very financially challenging fixture. For the second consecutive season, Melbourne did not receive a Friday night game and were forced to play,,, and twice (none of whom are traditionally large crowd drawers in Melbourne's home games).
Melbourne sold two of its home games into the Northern Territory due to a sponsorship deal made with Tourism NT. One was at TIO Traeger Park in Alice Springs in round 11 against Port Adelaide. This will be the first ever AFL game held at this stadium for premiership points as well as the first in Central Australia. The other game was at TIO Stadium in Darwin against in round 16. In addition Melbourne hosted the at Etihad Stadium in round 19 as hosted Port Adelaide at the MCG later that day instead.
Despite the financially challenging fixture, Melbourne hosted a handful of blockbuster games, which included Paul Roos coaching against his old side in round 5 for the first time. Melbourne continued to play its annual Queen's Birthday clash against Collingwood in round 12 (despite a record low crowd of 50,853 in 2013). Melbourne also hosted for the first time since Round 11, 2009 in round 17.
| Player | Date | Free agent type | Former club | New club | Compensation | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 October 2013 | Unrestricted | 2nd round | [2] | ||||
| 1 November 2013 | Delisted | None | [3] | ||||
| 11 November 2013 | Delisted | None | [4] |
| Date | Trade gained | Traded from | Trade lost | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 October 2013 | Pick 54 | [5] | |||
| Dom Tyson Pick 9 Pick 53 | 18 October 2013 | Pick 2 Pick 20 Pick 72 | [6] | ||
| 18 October 2013 | Pick 23 | [7] |
| Player | New club | League | Reason | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retired | [8] | ||||
| Retired | [9] | ||||
| unknown | unknown | Retired | |||
| Delisted | [10] | ||||
| Delisted | [11] | ||||
| Delisted | [12] | ||||
| Delisted | [13] | ||||
| Delisted | [14] | ||||
| Delisted | [15] | ||||
| Delisted | [16] | ||||
| Delisted | [17] | ||||
| Delisted but re-drafted as a rookie | [18] |
| Round | Overall pick | Player | State | Position | Team from | League from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Midfield | |||||
| 3 | 40 | Forward | |||||
| 4 | 57 | Midfield/Defender | |||||
| 6 | 82 (RP) | Midfield/Defender |
| Round | Overall pick | Player | State | Position | Team from | League from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Midfield | |||||
| 2 | 19 | Forward/Ruckman | |||||
| 3 | 35 | Forward/Ruckman | |||||
| 4 | 50 | Utility |
| Opponent | Played | Won | Lost | Drew | Premiership points | Points for | Points against | Percentage (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 81 | 58 | 139.66 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 91 | 74 | 122.97 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 70 | 67 | 104.48 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 78 | 77 | 101.30 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 86 | 90.70 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 168 | 190 | 88.42 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 144 | 167 | 86.23 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 68 | 75.00 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 159 | 230 | 69.13 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 74 | 68.92 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 115 | 56.52 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 69 | 55.07 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 61 | 45.90 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 177 | 45.76 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 102 | 35.29 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 97 | 35.05 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 83 | 242 | 34.30 | ||
| Total | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 16 | 1336 | 1954 | 68.38 |
| Player | width=4% | Round | width=16% | Charge category (Level) | width=6% | Verdict | width=8% | Early Plea | width=6% | Points | width=6% | Result | width=9% | Victim | width=9% | Club | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernie Vince | 3 | Reckless Contact with an Umpire (first offence) | Guilty | Yes | N/A | $1950 | Ben Ryan | N/A | [19] | ||||||||
| Alex Georgiou | 6 | Striking (level one) | Guilty | Yes | 93.75 | Reprimand | Lance Franklin | [20] | |||||||||
| Jack Viney | 7 | Rough Conduct | Appealed | No (straight to tribunal) | 0 | N/A | Tom Lynch | [21] [22] | |||||||||
| Chris Dawes | 9 | Striking (level three) | Guilty | Yes | 168.75 | 1 Match | Alex Rance | [23] | |||||||||
| Jordie McKenzie | 14 | Striking (level three) | Guilty | Yes | 168.75 | 1 Match | Lindsay Thomas | [24] | |||||||||
| Neville Jetta | 15 | Rough Conduct (level two) | Guilty | Yes | 185.63 | 1 Match | Fletcher Roberts | [25] | |||||||||
| Nathan Jones | 22 | Reckless Contact with an Umpire (first offence) | Guilty | Yes | N/A | $1950 | Matthew Leppard | N/A | [26] | ||||||||
| Jordie McKenzie | 23 | Negligent Contact with an Umpire (first offence) | Guilty | Yes | N/A | $900 | Ben Ryan | N/A | [27] | ||||||||
| Chris Dawes | 23 | Striking (level two) | Guilty | Yes | 145.31 | 1 Match | Andrew Swallow |
See main article: 2014 Brownlow Medal.
| Player | 1 vote games | 2 vote games | 3 vote games | Total votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 4 | (13) | ||
| 3 | 0 | 2 | (11) | ||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | (6) | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | (3) | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | (3) | ||
| 0 | 1 | 0 | (2) | ||
| 0 | 1 | 0 | (2) | ||
| 0 | 0 | 2 | (2) | ||
| Total | 8 | 5 | 8 | (42) |
See main article: Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal.
| Position | Player | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Nathan Jones | 311 |
| 2nd | Dom Tyson | 293 |
| 3rd | Bernie Vince | 270 |
| 4th | Lynden Dunn | 264 |
| 5th | Daniel Cross | 238 |
| 6th | Jeremy Howe | 220 |
| 7th | Tom McDonald | 212 |
| 8th | James Frawley | 192 |
| 9th | Neville Jetta | 191 |
| 10th | Jack Watts | 185 |
Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy – Nathan Jones
Sid Anderson Memorial Trophy (Second in the Best and Fairest) – Dom Tyson
Ron Barassi Snr Memorial Trophy (Third in the Best and Fairest) – Bernie Vince
Ivor Warne-Smith Memorial Trophy (Fourth in the Best and Fairest) – Lynden Dunn
Dick Taylor Memorial Trophy (Fifth in the Best and Fairest) – Daniel Cross
Harold Ball Memorial Trophy (Best Young Player) – Dom Tyson
Troy Broadbridge Trophy (highest polling MFC player in the Casey Best and Fairest) – Max Gawn
Ron Barassi Jnr. Leadership Award – Lynden Dunn
Ian Ridley Club Ambassador Award – Jack Watts
Norm Smith Memorial Trophy (Coach's Award) – Neville Jetta
James McDonald Trophy (Best Team Man) – Daniel Cross
Leading Goalkicker Award – Chris Dawes (20)