Coach: Norm Smith
Captain: John Beckwith
Finishing Position: 1st (Premiers)
Best and Fairest: John Beckwith
Leading Goalkicker: Athol Webb (56)
Best First Year Player: Geoff Tunbridge
Members: 3550
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Best and Fairest | Seconds | Thirds |
The Demons lost a wealth of experience before the season with Noel McMahen (captain), Ken Melville (vice-captain), Stuart Spencer (best and fairest), Geoff McGivern, Ken Melville, Ralph Lane and Denis Cordner either moving on or retiring. Despite having won the premiership in easy fashion the year before they were suddenly being tipped to tumble down the ladder.
In 1956 Smith had the luxury of using just 27 players for the season, but the next year he was forced to turn out 36 - including 13 debutants. John Beckwith and Ron Barassi were appointed as the youngest leadership team in the league - 24 and 21 years old respectively.
After being forced to do their pre-season training at Olympic Park due to resurfacing works on the MCG Melbourne's road to the top of the ladder was far rockier than it had been in 1956, when they'd remained unbeaten for over three months and only lost two games. This time they lost five - including two of the first four - and their points total was the lowest for a minor premier in the 12 team era. At the other end of the table Geelong were demonstrating the evenness of the competition by scoring the highest total for a wooden spooner in the same time frame.
They had to battle through to the Grand Final via the Preliminary Final after losing to Essendon. They faced the Bombers again in the last match of the year and this time made amends.
After the success of a 1956 night series where only teams who didn't qualify for the finals were involved, the league introduced an expanded competition featuring all sides - including Melbourne for the first time.
The club made a profit of approximately 2000p.
Melbourne's VFL delegates were Bert Chadwick and Dick Taylor.
Premiership Season
Round | Opposition | Result
| |||
| 1 | Fitzroy | LOSS | |||
| 2 | Collingwood | WIN | |||
| 3 | Essendon | WIN | |||
| 4 | Hawthorn | LOSS | |||
| 5 | St. Kilda | WIN | |||
| 6 | South Melbourne | WIN | |||
| 7 | Richmond | LOSS | |||
| 8 | Carlton | WIN | |||
| 9 | Geelong | WIN | |||
| 10 | North Melbourne | WIN | |||
| 11 | Footscray | WIN | |||
| 12 | Fitzroy | WIN | |||
| 13 | Collingwood | DRAW | |||
| 14 | Essendon | WIN | |||
| 15 | Hawthorn | LOSS | |||
| 16 | St. Kilda | WIN | |||
| 17 | South Melbourne | LOSS | |||
| 18 | Richmond | WIN | |||
| SF | Essendon | LOSS | |||
| PF | Hawthorn | WIN | |||
| GF | Essendon | WIN | |||
Ladder
W | D | L | % | P
| |
| Melbourne | 12 | 1 | 5 | 138.8 | 50 |
| Essendon | 11 | 0 | 7 | 118.3 | 44 |
| Hawthorn | 11 | 0 | 7 | 116.7 | 44 |
| Carlton | 11 | 0 | 7 | 99.5 | 44 |
| Collingwood | 9 | 1 | 8 | 101.8 | 38 |
| Footscray | 9 | 1 | 8 | 99.1 | 38 |
| Richmond | 9 | 0 | 9 | 93.9 | 36 |
| North Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 10 | 95.1 | 32 |
| St. Kilda | 8 | 0 | 10 | 94.5 | 32 |
| South Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 11 | 88.8 | 28 |
| Fitzroy | 6 | 0 | 12 | 84.1 | 24 |
| Geelong | 5 | 1 | 12 | 88.2 | 22 |
Exhibition Match
Opposition | Result
| ||||
| Wimmera League | WIN | ||||
| Carlton | WIN | ||||
Night Series
Round | Opposition | Result
| |||
| 1 | BYE | ||||
| 2 | Footscray | LOSS | |||
Playing List
| Number | Name | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Dick Fenton-Smith | 18 | 18 | ||
| 3 | Peter Marquis | 17 | 0 | ||
| 4 | John Lord | 14 | 0 | ||
| 5 | Ian McLean | 20 | 8 | ||
| 6 | Frank Adams | 14 | 17 | ||
| 7 | Geoff Case | 18 | 11 | ||
| 8 | Jim Sandral | 7 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Brian Dixon | 21 | 2 | ||
| 10 | Bob Turner | 2 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Laurie Mithen | 12 | 1 | ||
| 12 | Neil Crompton | 1 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Trevor Johnson | 17 | 3 | ||
| 15 | Athol Webb | 21 | 56 | ||
| 16 | Bob Johnson | 18 | 29 | ||
| 18 | Kevin Mithen | 1 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Keith Carroll | 10 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Graeme Pinfold | 6 | 1 | ||
| 21 | Peter Cook | 6 | 3 | ||
| 22 | Ben Crameri | 2 | 0 | ||
| 23 | Geoff Tunbridge | 20 | 32 | ||
| 24 | Ian Ridley | 21 | 33 | ||
| 25 | Don Williams | 21 | 1 | ||
| 26 | Ian Thorogood | 17 | 1 | ||
| 27 | Denis Jones | 2 | 0 | ||
| 28 | Terry Gleeson | 16 | 5 | ||
| 29 | Tony Bull | 1 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Brian Dunsford | 7 | 1 | ||
| 30 | John Beckwith | 21 | 0 | ||
| 31 | Ron Barassi | 21 | 30 | ||
| 32 | Graham Kerr | 3 | 0 | ||
| 33 | Colin Wilson | 16 | 1 | ||
| 35 | Clyde Laidlaw | 6 | 3 | ||
| 36 | Dick Atkinson | 4 | 0 | ||
| 37 | Terry Mountain | 3 | 1 | ||
| 38 | Peter Brenchley | 15 | 8 | ||
| 39 | Bill Byrne | 1 | 0 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | |||||
| 1st | John Beckwith | ||||
| 2nd | Ron Barassi | ||||
| 3rd | Geoff Tunbridge | ||||
Other Awards
Best Clubman Trophy - Jim Sandral
Most Improved Player - Colin Wilson
Fred Pleass Special Trophy - Athol Webb
Outstanding Service - Robert B Johnson, Ian Ridley, Brian Dixon, Don Williams
Seconds
Leading goalkicker - Graeme Wilkinson (49)
Best and Fairest - Robert Hayes
Second Best and Fairest - Ben Crameri
Best First Year Player - George Milner
Best Clubman - Don Thorne
Most Improved - Kevin Mithen
Outstanding Service - Terry Mountain, Peter Cook, Graeme Wilkinson
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| North Melbourne | 15 | 0 | 3 | 129.8 | 60 |
| Fitzroy | 14 | 0 | 4 | 121.2 | 56 |
| Essendon | 12 | 0 | 6 | 113.0 | 48 |
| St Kilda | 12 | 0 | 6 | 110.0 | 48 |
| Footscray | 11 | 0 | 7 | 123.0 | 44 |
| Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 10 | 98.5 | 32 |
| Richmond | 7 | 1 | 10 | 106.4 | 30 |
| Collingwood | 7 | 0 | 11 | 94.5 | 28 |
| South Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 11 | 78.6 | 28 |
| Hawthorn | 6 | 0 | 11 | 92.1 | 26 |
| Geelong | 5 | 0 | 13 | 85.5 | 20 |
| Carlton | 3 | 0 | 15 | 74.6 | 12 |
Thirds
Captain - Kevin Boyle
Best and Fairest - Neil Campbell
Second Best and Fairest - Bernie Massey
Most improved - G. Harris
Outstanding service - Lance Rolfe, Kevin Boyle
W | D | L | % | P
| |
| St Kilda | 12 | 1 | 3 | 147.9 | 50 |
| South Melbourne | 12 | 1 | 3 | 143.7 | 50 |
| Carlton | 12 | 1 | 3 | 141.5 | 50 |
| Collingwood | 12 | 0 | 4 | 150.0 | 48 |
| Hawthorn | 11 | 0 | 5 | 110.3 | 44 |
| Essendon | 7 | 1 | 8 | 99.0 | 30 |
| Fitzroy | 7 | 1 | 8 | 92.5 | 30 |
| North Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 10 | 88.7 | 24 |
| Geelong | 6 | 0 | 10 | 77.5 | 24 |
| Melbourne | 3 | 1 | 12 | 58.5 | 14 |
| Footscray | 2 | 2 | 12 | 77.8 | 12 |
| Richmond | 2 | 0 | 14 | 66.2 | 8 |
Fourths
Best and Fairest - Malcolm Innes
Second Best and Fairest - Robert Anderson
Third Best and Fairest - Noel Bosch
Notes
Football Record shows the Seconds ladder as above, with only one draw listed.
Media
Team list - The Age 15/04/1957
Football Record 1957 Finals