Coach: Frank Hughes
Captain: Ivor Warne-Smith
Finishing Position: 1st (Premiers)
Best and Fairest: Ron Baggott
Leading Goalkicker: Norm Smith (86)
Best First Year Player: Col McLean
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Best and Fairest | Seconds | |
By the time the Second World War had ended Melbourne would be one of the most hard hit clubs by army service and fatalities, but with the war just two years old they were sufficiently insulated from the conflict to take home their second consecutive premiership - their first ever defence of the title - and their fourth flag in club history.
The league altered rules which allowed players to be reported for throwing a ball away after a free kick/mark or interfering with a player in similar circumstances. Players were now not allowed to kick the ball in after a behind until the goal umpire signalled the point. The ring in the centre of the ground was enlarged but otherwise there were no serious alterations to the laws of the game. Despite the additional reporting options on offer not a single Melbourne player found himself at the league Tribunal that year.
After a pre-season fitness campaign overseen by Danish expert Drace Nissen, the premiership victory came off the back of a dynamic forward combination of Norm Smith, Jack Mueller and Ron Baggott who contibuted 171 goals between them. Melbourne scored a full 300 points more than the next best team in the league, but their defence also conceded a large amount of points.
Smith's 86 goal haul would remain the largest in club history until Fred Fanning kicked 97 in 1947, and is still the third highest ever behind Fanning and Darren Bennett in 1990.
A shock loss to Richmond in the Semi Final left the Demons on the verge of a shock straight sets exit but they regained their composure and won through the Preliminary Final to earn another shot at the Tigers. There, with police boxing champion Jack O'Keefe playing protector against the deadly Jack Dyer the Demons won the premiership.
Despite the success the club still lost money, with receipts of 3201p and expenditure of 4054p.
Melbourne kicked over 100 points in 76.91% of matches (16 of 21), which remains the highest proportion in their history.
Melbourne's VFL delegates were Joe Blair and Bruce Hogg.
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Essendon | LOSS | 108-125 | ||
| 2 | Richmond | WIN | 122-99 | ||
| 3 | Footscray | WIN | 141-102 | ||
| 4 | Carlton | WIN | 116-90 | ||
| 5 | Collingwood | WIN | 114-98 | ||
| 6 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 81-87 | ||
| 7 | North Melbourne | WIN | 106-49 | ||
| 8 | Fitzroy | WIN | 87-85 | ||
| 9 | St. Kilda | WIN | 123-112 | ||
| 10 | Geelong | LOSS | 151-154 | ||
| 11 | South Melbourne | WIN | 130-78 | ||
| 12 | Essendon | WIN | 122-54 | ||
| 13 | Richmond | WIN | 94-87 | ||
| 14 | Footscray | WIN | 110-91 | ||
| 15 | Carlton | LOSS | 96-133 | ||
| 16 | Collingwood | WIN | 104-90 | ||
| 17 | Hawthorn | WIN | 176-62 | ||
| 18 | North Melbourne | WIN | 129-81 | ||
| SF | Richmond | LOSS | 101-107 | ||
| PF | Essendon | WIN | 90-85 | ||
| GF | Richmond | WIN | 107-68 | ||
Ladder
W | D | L | % | P
| |
| Melbourne | 14 | 0 | 4 | 125.8 | 56 |
| Richmond | 12 | 0 | 6 | 120.0 | 48 |
| Essendon | 12 | 0 | 6 | 108.2 | 48 |
| Geelong | 11 | 0 | 7 | 102.9 | 44 |
| Carlton | 10 | 0 | 8 | 111.3 | 40 |
| Footscray | 9 | 0 | 9 | 108.9 | 36 |
| Fitzroy | 9 | 0 | 9 | 92.3 | 36 |
| Collingwood | 8 | 0 | 10 | 100.6 | 32 |
| Hawthorn | 7 | 0 | 11 | 88.0 | 28 |
| South Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 11 | 87.3 | 28 |
| St. Kilda | 5 | 0 | 13 | 86.8 | 20 |
| North Melbourne | 4 | 0 | 14 | 75.1 | 16 |
Lightning Premiership
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Richmond | LOSS | 1-35 | ||
Exhibition Match
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Combined Bookmakers-Ascot Vale Hotel | LOSS | 63-92 | |||
Playing List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Gordon Jones | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2 | Roy Dowsing | 11 | 15 | ||
| 3 | Bill Baxter | 14 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Norm Smith | 21 | 86 | ||
| 5 | Keith Truscott | 9 | 9 | ||
| 6 | Fred Fanning | 5 | 5 | ||
| 7 | Hugh Murnane | 11 | 11 | ||
| 8 | Rowley Fischer | 16 | 1 | ||
| 9 | Richie Emselle | 21 | 1 | ||
| 10 | Maurie Gibb | 21 | 25 | ||
| 11 | Harold Ball | 13 | 3 | ||
| 12 | Jack Mueller | 21 | 38 | ||
| 13 | Les Jones | 4 | 3 | ||
| 14 | Jack Maher | 6 | 1 | ||
| 15 | Ron Baggott | 21 | 47 | ||
| 16 | Jack Atkins | 4 | 1 | ||
| 17 | Allan La Fontaine | 19 | 6 | ||
| 18 | Wally Lock | 15 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Frank Roberts | 16 | 0 | ||
| 21 | Ron Kimberley | 1 | 1 | ||
| 22 | Shane McGrath | 5 | 0 | ||
| 23 | Ray Wartman | 21 | 7 | ||
| 24 | Percy Beames | 15 | 30 | ||
| 25 | Col McLean | 11 | 0 | ||
| 26 | Jack Furniss | 5 | 0 | ||
| 27 | Gerry Daly | 2 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Jack O'Keefe | 13 | 9 | ||
| 30 | Alby Rodda | 16 | 22 | ||
| 31 | Ron Barassi | 14 | 14 | ||
| 32 | Dick Hingston | 12 | 0 | ||
| 33 | Bernie Neenan | 2 | 1 | ||
| 34 | Adrian Dullard | 2 | 1 | ||
| 35 | Noel Ellis | 1 | 0 | ||
| 36 | Sid Anderson | 21 | 3 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | Votes | ||||
| 1st | Ron Baggott | ||||
Other Awards
Most Consistent - Richie Emselle
Most Improved Senior Player - Sid Anderson
Best Clubman - Gerry Daly
Seconds
| Points | |||||
| Essendon | 56 | ||||
| Collingwood | 52 | ||||
| Carlton | 52 | ||||
| Fitzroy | 52 | ||||
| Melbourne | 48 | ||||
| Richmond | 44 | ||||
| Geelong | 36 | ||||
| Footscray | 28 | ||||
| St Kilda | 24 | ||||
| Hawthorn | 20 | ||||
| South Melbourne | 8 | ||||
| North Melbourne | 8 | ||||
Notes
Gerry Daly is shown as wearing #25 in the R9 and R10 Football Records and #27 in R13
Lists
Season Records
Media
Argus - 13/03/1940
Argus - 15/03/1940
[http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/11300602|Argus - 05/11/1940
Age - 04/02/1940
Argus - 05/02/1941