Captain - Coach: Ivor Warne-Smith
Finishing Position: 3rd
Best and Fairest: n/a
Leading Goalkicker: Robert C Johnson (55)
Best First Year Player: n/a
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Seconds | ||
After breaking through for their first premiership in over a quarter of a century in 1926, the Fuschias finished fifth the next year and missed out on the finals.
The committee recognised that a lack of players in tough times had hurt them and extended their list of reserves. The club then put the disappointment of 1927 behind behind them to rebound to third place in 1928, losing their semi final with Collingwood in a replay after the two sides had played the first ever drawn VFL finals match.
Before the season the vote for the committee had been controversial, with Fred Ince chosen by the casting vote of Chairman Cordner when he had tied with a Mr. CM McBean.
The league amended the rules so that players who were tackled had to be held before they were compelled to drop the ball, and the change increased the pace of the game.
Melbourne had been top of the ladder early in the season after winning the first eight games of the season, and should have ended up with the double chance, but six of their first 10 wins came by two goals or less so when form dropped off at the end of the year they lost games which pushed them back into third and the elimination semi final with the Magpies.
Melbourne made a protest to the league about the result of the Round 17 match where St Kilda kicked the winning goal after the bell. Unlike the similiar incident between the clubs in Round 1, 1900 the protest was dismissed because the umpire hadn't heard the bell. The one point loss they suffered as a result of the umpiring error cost them second place - fortunately in a year where there were no double chances on offer, but it did mean they had to play off against top of the table Collingwood.
Melbourne were again denied by an umpiring error during the first ever drawn semi-final. The Magpies snapped a point after the bell had gone for three-quarter time.
At the end of the season Richard Taylor received a payment for playing 100 consecutive games, Bill Tymms a trophy for his play in the Semi Final and secretary Andrew Manzie a trophy from the VFL team he had taken to Bendigo.
Gordon Coulter replaced Harry Parkin as one of Melbourne's VFL delegates.
MCG matches throughout the season were played against the backdrop of an 80,000 pound grandstand renovation.
Premiership Season
Round | Opposition | Result
| |||
| 1 | Essendon | WIN | |||
| 2 | Geelong | WIN | |||
| 3 | Fitzroy | WIN | |||
| 4 | Richmond | WIN | |||
| 5 | Hawthorn | WIN | |||
| 6 | St. Kilda | WIN | |||
| 7 | North Melbourne | WIN | |||
| 8 | Carlton | WIN | |||
| 9 | Collingwood | LOSS | |||
| 10 | South Melbourne | WIN | |||
| 11 | Footscray | WIN | |||
| 12 | Essendon | LOSS | |||
| 13 | Geelong | WIN | |||
| 14 | Fitzroy | WIN | |||
| 15 | Richmond | LOSS | |||
| 16 | Hawthorn | WIN | |||
| 17 | St. Kilda | LOSS | |||
| 18 | North Melbourne | WIN | |||
| SF | Collingwood | DRAW | |||
| SF-R | Collingwood | LOSS | |||
Ladder
W | D | L | % | P
| |
| Collingwood | 15 | 0 | 3 | 134.6 | 60 |
| Richmond | 14 | 0 | 4 | 133.6 | 56 |
| Melbourne | 14 | 0 | 4 | 122.2 | 56 |
| Carlton | 11 | 0 | 7 | 121.4 | 44 |
| Essendon | 11 | 0 | 7 | 113.0 | 44 |
| St. Kilda | 11 | 0 | 7 | 102.0 | 44 |
| Footscray | 9 | 0 | 9 | 109.3 | 36 |
| Fitzroy | 7 | 0 | 11 | 88.4 | 28 |
| Geelong | 6 | 0 | 12 | 99.5 | 24 |
| South Melbourne | 5 | 0 | 13 | 85.5 | 20 |
| North Melbourne | 5 | 0 | 13 | 67.7 | 20 |
| Hawthorn | 0 | 0 | 18 | 61.6 | 0 |
Exhibition Matches
Opposition | Result
| ||||
| Gippsland League | WIN | ||||
Playing List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Stan Wittman | 19 | 34 | ||
| 2 | Barney Wood | 5 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Ted Thomas | 12 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Jim Abernethy | 14 | 20 | ||
| 5 | Tommy McConville | 18 | 25 | ||
| 6 | Allan Hope | 4 | 7 | ||
| 7 | Norman Driver | 2 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Herbert White | 17 | 7 | ||
| 9 | Charlie Streeter | 12 | 0 | ||
| 10 | Jack Collins | 17 | 2 | ||
| 11 | Derek Mollison | 7 | 1 | ||
| 12 | Bob Corbett | 18 | 3 | ||
| 14 | Ivor Warne-Smith | 20 | 13 | ||
| 15 | Charlie Barnes | 20 | 0 | ||
| 16 | Robert C Johnson | 17 | 55 | ||
| 17 | Bert Chadwick | 16 | 10 | ||
| 19 | Harry Coy | 7 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Clem Carr | 2 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Les Meade | 1 | 0 | ||
| 21 | Bill London | 1 | 1 | ||
| 21 | Gerry Beare | 2 | 0 | ||
| 23 | Francis Vine | 15 | 10 | ||
| 24 | Jack Haw | 4 | 2 | ||
| 27 | Bill Tymms | 14 | 1 | ||
| 28 | Hugh Dunbar | 13 | 17 | ||
| 29 | Jimmy Davidson | 20 | 9 | ||
| 30 | Gordon Ogden | 11 | 3 | ||
| 31 | Col Deane | 15 | 6 | ||
| 34 | Ray Usher | 10 | 0 | ||
| 35 | Richard Taylor | 20 | 3 | ||
| 38 | Jim Moodie | 2 | 0 | ||
| 39 | Bill Latham | 5 | 0 | ||
Seconds
| Carlton | 64 | ||||
| Geelong | 58 | ||||
| Essendon | 54 | ||||
| Collingwood | 52 | ||||
| South Melbourne | 40 | ||||
| North Melbourne | 40 | ||||
| Fitzroy | 30 | ||||
| Richmond | 28 | ||||
| St Kilda | 18 | ||||
| Footscray | 16 | ||||
| Melbourne | 16 | ||||
| Hawthorn | 16 | ||||
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 8 | Stan Wittman | Elbowing | Not Guilty | ||
Links
Membership image courtesy of grandoldflag.net
Media
The Argus - 16/02/1928
The Argus - 23/04/1928
Football Record R1 1928
The Argus - 04/10/1928