Coach: Frank Hughes
Captain: Don Cordner
Finishing Position: 2nd (Premiers)
Best and Fairest: Alby Rodda
Leading Goalkicker: Lance Arnold (41)
Best First Year Player: n/a
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Best and Fairest | Seconds | Thirds | Tribunal |
After having their triple premiership winning side of the late 30s and early 40s torn apart by the war the Demons finally won another premiership, but they had to do it via a replay after Essendon kicked themselves out of contention in spectacular fashion during the first match.
Melbourne's secret weapon for the finals was Jack Mueller, who came out of retirement late in the season to kick 20 goals in his three finals appearances - including six of ten in the first Grand Final and another six in the Replay. Melbourne needed Mueller as they were down to the bare bones of their playing list midway through the finals but his inclusion proved decisive. Essendon kicked themselves out of the Grand Final and the Demons ran away with their sixth league premiership in the Replay.
At the end of the season Checker Hughes retired as coach, and players Don Cordner, Shane McGrath, Norm Smith and Jack Mueller followed. It marked the start of a dramatic fall from grace by the Demons as they entered a rebuilding phase.
A tradition came to the end at the MCG late in the season as a siren replaced the bell known as "Old Lysander" which had rung out for many years to mark the start and end of quarters.
Melbourne Thirds played a Queensland representative side at the MCG on Wednesday 11 August. The Demons juniors won comfortably.
An exhibition game was proposed for October in Broken Hill, but was later cancelled.
Despite the premiership the club made a loss, with 7524p/17/8 expenditure against record reciepts of 6581p/18/1.
Melbourne's VFL delegates were Bill Flintoft and Bruce Hogg.
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| 1 | Essendon | LOSS | 77-96 | |||
| 2 | St. Kilda | WIN | 79-48 | |||
| 3 | Fitzroy | LOSS | 48-86 | |||
| 4 | Richmond | WIN | 89-84 | |||
| 5 | North Melbourne | WIN | 95-50 | |||
| 6 | South Melbourne | WIN | 105-59 | |||
| 7 | Carlton | WIN | 102-51 | |||
| 8 | Collingwood | LOSS | 76-83 | |||
| 9 | Footscray | LOSS | 68-75 | |||
| 10 | Hawthorn | WIN | 120-70 | |||
| 11 | Geelong | WIN | 71-57 | |||
| 12 | Essendon | LOSS | 65-91 | |||
| 13 | St. Kilda | WIN | 163-58 | |||
| 14 | Fitzroy | WIN | 113-77 | |||
| 15 | Richmond | LOSS | 44-106 | |||
| 16 | North Melbourne | WIN | 74-42 | |||
| 17 | South Melbourne | WIN | 103-54 | |||
| 18 | Carlton | WIN | 101-92 | |||
| 19 | Collingwood | WIN | 89-59 | |||
| SF | Essendon | LOSS | 58-94 | |||
| PF | Collingwood | WIN | 166-101 | |||
| GF | Essendon | DRAW | 69-69 | |||
| GF-R | Essendon | WIN | 89-50 | |||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | ||
| Essendon | 16 | 1 | 2 | 137.2 | 66 | |
| Melbourne | 13 | 0 | 6 | 124.9 | 52 | |
| Collingwood | 13 | 0 | 6 | 118.3 | 52 | |
| Footscray | 12 | 0 | 7 | 103.2 | 48 | |
| Richmond | 11 | 1 | 7 | 125.6 | 46 | |
| Carlton | 10 | 0 | 9 | 113.1 | 40 | |
| Fitzroy | 9 | 0 | 10 | 112.8 | 36 | |
| North Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 11 | 83.6 | 32 | |
| Geelong | 7 | 0 | 12 | 89.7 | 28 | |
| South Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 12 | 82.8 | 28 | |
| Hawthorn | 5 | 0 | 14 | 75.7 | 20 | |
| St. Kilda | 2 | 0 | 17 | 59.8 | 8 | |
Exhibition match
| Opposition | Result | Score | ||||
| Central Goulburn Valley League | WIN | 126-70 | ||||
| North Western Football Union | WIN | 120-73 | ||||
Playing List
| Number | Name | Games | Goals | |||
| 1 | Denis Cordner | 2 | 0 | |||
| 1 | Jim Mitchell | 12 | 7 | |||
| 2 | Robert McKenzie | 19 | 39 | |||
| 3 | Geoff Collins | 7 | 3 | |||
| 4 | Norm Smith | 13 | 35 | |||
| 5 | Billy Deans | 23 | 0 | |||
| 6 | Eddie Craddock | 11 | 18 | |||
| 7 | Eddie Jackson | 13 | 3 | |||
| 8 | Doug Heywood | 2 | 0 | |||
| 9 | Les Crawley | 4 | 0 | |||
| 10 | Lance Arnold | 22 | 41 | |||
| 11 | Gordon Bowman | 11 | 1 | |||
| 12 | Jack Mueller | 5 | 28 | |||
| 13 | Max Spittle | 22 | 1 | |||
| 14 | Eric Roscoe | 12 | 11 | |||
| 15 | Frank O'Connor | 7 | 7 | |||
| 16 | George Bickford | 23 | 2 | |||
| 17 | Greg Lourey | 5 | 1 | |||
| 18 | Wally Lock | 18 | 0 | |||
| 19 | Bill Scanlan | 6 | 1 | |||
| 20 | Russ Robinson | 6 | 1 | |||
| 21 | Don Cordner | 23 | 0 | |||
| 22 | Shane McGrath | 22 | 1 | |||
| 23 | Dave Hardie | 5 | 3 | |||
| 24 | Frank Hanna | 14 | 3 | |||
| 25 | Col McLean | 22 | 0 | |||
| 26 | Colin Cox | 2 | 2 | |||
| 27 | Ernie O'Rourke | 10 | 5 | |||
| 28 | Adrian Dullard | 23 | 31 | |||
| 30 | Alby Rodda | 21 | 23 | |||
| 31 | Stan Rule | 19 | 1 | |||
| 32 | Len Dockett | 22 | 8 | |||
| 33 | Alan McGowan | 4 | 1 | |||
| 33 | Des Bell | 1 | 1 | |||
| 34 | Frank Scanlan | 12 | 5 | |||
| 35 | Noel McMahen | 17 | 15 | |||
Best and Fairest
| Player | Votes | |||||
| 1st | Alby Rodda | |||||
Other Awards
Outstanding Service - Len Dockett
Effective Play in Finals - Col McLean
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | |||
| Round 7 | Norm Smith | Obscene Language | 4 matches | |||
| SF | Bob McKenzie | Striking | Guilty (Reprimand) | |||
| PF | Alan McGowan | Attempted Striking | 2 matches | |||
Seconds
1948 Seconds season
Best and Fairest - John Dorgan
| W | D | L | % | P | ||
| Collingwood | 16 | 0 | 3 | 130.1 | 64 | |
| Richmond | 15 | 0 | 4 | 151.1 | 60 | |
| Geelong | 12 | 1 | 6 | 135.5 | 50 | |
| Essendon | 12 | 0 | 7 | 134.0 | 48 | |
| Melbourne | 11 | 1 | 7 | 108.1 | 46 | |
| Carlton | 11 | 0 | 8 | 103.5 | 44 | |
| Footscray | 9 | 1 | 9 | 118.4 | 38 | |
| South Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 12 | 83.9 | 28 | |
| St Kilda | 6 | 0 | 13 | 84.1 | 24 | |
| North Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 13 | 79.0 | 24 | |
| Fitzroy | 5 | 1 | 13 | 77.0 | 22 | |
| Hawthorn | 2 | 0 | 17 | 54.0 | 8 | |
Thirds
| W | D | L | % | P | ||
| Essendon | 16 | 1 | 0 | 229.8 | 66 | |
| Geelong | 15 | 0 | 2 | 207.3 | 60 | |
| Carlton | 14 | 0 | 3 | 230.4 | 56 | |
| Richmond | 12 | 0 | 5 | 155.6 | 48 | |
| Melbourne | 9 | 0 | 8 | 154.9 | 36 | |
| Footscray | 9 | 0 | 8 | 81.4 | 36 | |
| South Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 10 | 94.9 | 28 | |
| Fitzroy | 7 | 0 | 10 | 73.2 | 28 | |
| Hawthorn | 5 | 1 | 11 | 72.2 | 22 | |
| North Melbourne | 4 | 0 | 13 | 16 | ||
| North Essendon | 2 | 0 | 15 | 28.6 | 8 | |
| St Kilda | 1 | 0 | 16 | 29.6 | 4 | |
Media
Barrier Daily Truth - 30/09/1948
Sporting Globe - 13/10/1948
"Record receipts at Melbourne" - 28/01/1949
Links
AFL Tables 1948 page