Coach: John Northey
Captain: Garry Lyon
Finishing Position: 11th
Best and Fairest: Glenn Lovett
Leading Goalkicker: Allen Jakovich (40)
Best First Year Player: Chris Sullivan
Sponsor: Snowy Mountain Spring Water
Members: 8681
Financial result: -$351,826
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Best and Fairest | Reserves | |
After their five straight finals appearance the club started the year with a new President in Ian Ridley, but also with $600,000 of unpaid bills after a combined million dollar deficit across the previous two seasons. After playing every finals series since 1987 without a premiership they gambled heavily on a revamped list, letting several established senior players go and bringing in experienced discards from other clubs.
Senior coach John Northey began pre-season with a five day camp at HMAS Cerberus in Crib Point, but the Demons' start to the year was interrupted by the Cricket World Cup which kept them off the MCG until Round 2, and district cricket finals at the Junction Oval that forced them into a third choice training ground in a St Kilda park. Recovering stars Garry Lyon and Jim Stynes were forbidden from training because it was feared they would injure themselves again on a pothole.
The club's first preference for a training and social base was land next to the National Tennis Centre, overlooking the Old Scotch Oval which was controlled by the MCC. The $5 million plan to build a six hectare complex - to be funded by the Tennis Centre Trust and repaid by the club as part of their lease - was rejected by the Trust in August. It left the club with the rights to 105 poker machines but nowhere to put them. There were also discussions about using the Olympic Park #2 Oval, complicated by the Greyhound Racing Association recently winning a 15 year extension to their lease. When all other options were exhausted they considered redeveloping the Junction Oval instead.
Melbourne's pre-season had been poor in most ways, losing four of five practice matches and their first round Fosters Cup game, but after a Round 1 bye the Demons thumped Geelong in Round 2. After that bright start they failed to win again until Round 10, throwing away an eight goal lead in the last quarter against Essendon and drawing with the unfancied Swans. They used 41 players for the season, the most in any year since 1987.
Despite eventually winning seven games the Demons were six and a half wins out of the top six, and after five straight years of finals John Northey resigned as coach to sign with Richmond the same day. Melbourne had announced that Northey's job was under review, and at the same time Allan Jeans was retiring at the Tigers, so when he was offered the certainty of a guaranteed job in 1993 he took it. It was revealed that Melbourne officials were going to compile a shortlist, including Northey, and vote on it to decide who would coach the side in '93.
The Under 19s were abolished, and the Reserves competition was played under the name 'Victorian State Football League' despite still involving Brisbane and Sydney. Melbourne lost their third straight Grand Final in the grade.
In August, former player Gerard Healy wrote a newspaper article claiming Melbourne and Richmond had been engaged in high-level towards a merger. Both clubs denied the story and Healy was forced to retract the story and issue an apology following the involvement of Richmond's solicitors. Ian Ridley said the club would not seek a merger, but would consider offers from others. After losing $463,188 for the season, Ridley denied further rumours of a merger with Fitzroy. He said "The Melbourne Football Club is the oldest football club in Australia and will never compromise and lose its identity."
At the end of the season members voted on a proposal to cut the board from 12 to eight, with six positions voted for by MCC Members to be abolished. There was also a proposal to allow the club to hold a gaming and liquor licence to allow them open a licensed venue.
Practice Matches
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Fitzroy | LOSS | 74-99 | |||
| St. Kilda | LOSS | 97-132 | |||
| Richmond | LOSS | 120-128 | |||
| Collingwood | LOSS | 58-176 | |||
| Brisbane | WIN | 128-65 | |||
| Norwood | WIN | 104-80 | |||
Fosters Cup
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Footscray | LOSS | 61-103 | ||
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | BYE | ||||
| 2 | Geelong | WIN | 113-105 | ||
| 3 | Adelaide | LOSS | 95-104 | ||
| 4 | Richmond | LOSS | 69-119 | ||
| 5 | Collingwood | LOSS | 98-131 | ||
| 6 | Essendon | LOSS | 123-124 | ||
| 7 | Sydney | DRAW | 96-96 | ||
| 8 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 65-125 | ||
| 9 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 48-120 | ||
| 10 | North Melbourne | WIN | 140-104 | ||
| 11 | Carlton | LOSS | 65-99 | ||
| 12 | Brisbane Bears | LOSS | 77-103 | ||
| 13 | Footscray | LOSS | 54-161 | ||
| 14 | BYE | ||||
| 15 | Fitzroy | WIN | 109-87 | ||
| 16 | West Coast | LOSS | 87-109 | ||
| 17 | Geelong | LOSS | 63-136 | ||
| 18 | Adelaide | WIN | 116-67 | ||
| 19 | Richmond | WIN | 150-75 | ||
| 20 | Collingwood | WIN | 109-100 | ||
| 21 | Essendon | LOSS | 94-126 | ||
| 22 | Sydney | WIN | 139-88 | ||
| 23 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 43-58 | ||
| 24 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 130-149 | ||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Geelong | 16 | 0 | 6 | 145.6 | 64 |
| Footscray | 16 | 0 | 6 | 129.8 | 64 |
| Collingwood | 16 | 0 | 6 | 114.9 | 64 |
| West Coast | 15 | 1 | 6 | 125.9 | 62 |
| Hawthorn | 14 | 0 | 8 | 122.9 | 56 |
| St. Kilda | 14 | 0 | 8 | 120.2 | 56 |
| Carlton | 14 | 0 | 8 | 112.3 | 56 |
| Essendon | 12 | 0 | 10 | 92.8 | 48 |
| Adelaide | 11 | 0 | 11 | 101.4 | 44 |
| Fitzroy | 9 | 0 | 13 | 90.3 | 36 |
| Melbourne | 7 | 1 | 14 | 87.3 | 30 |
| North Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 15 | 89.5 | 28 |
| Richmond | 5 | 0 | 17 | 73.5 | 20 |
| Brisbane | 4 | 1 | 17 | 64.6 | 18 |
| Sydney | 3 | 1 | 18 | 74.1 | 14 |
Playing List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 2 | Stephen Tingay | 6 | 1 | ||
| 3 | Garry Lyon | 16 | 30 | ||
| 4 | Chris Sullivan | 16 | 19 | ||
| 5 | David Schwarz | 22 | 20 | ||
| 6 | Glenn Lovett | 18 | 12 | ||
| 7 | Darren Kowal | 3 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Graeme Yeats | 19 | 5 | ||
| 9 | Darren Cuthbertson | 11 | 5 | ||
| 11 | Jim Stynes | 22 | 9 | ||
| 12 | Todd Viney | 22 | 7 | ||
| 13 | Allen Jakovich | 11 | 40 | ||
| 14 | Rod Grinter | 3 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Paul Bryce | 13 | 3 | ||
| 16 | Andy Lovell | 19 | 26 | ||
| 17 | Brett Lovett | 20 | 4 | ||
| 18 | Steven Stretch | 18 | 14 | ||
| 19 | Darren Bennett | 14 | 28 | ||
| 20 | Matthew Febey | 10 | 5 | ||
| 21 | Steven Febey | 14 | 2 | ||
| 22 | Stephen Wearne | 3 | 2 | ||
| 23 | Kevin Dyson | 5 | 1 | ||
| 24 | Luke Beveridge | 6 | 6 | ||
| 25 | Simon Eishold | 5 | 1 | ||
| 26 | Wayne Henwood | 1 | 0 | ||
| 27 | Sean Wight | 11 | 6 | ||
| 28 | John Howat | 5 | 3 | ||
| 29 | Andrew Obst | 16 | 14 | ||
| 31 | Rod Keogh | 13 | 3 | ||
| 32 | Andy Goodwin | 13 | 0 | ||
| 33 | Greg Healy | 11 | 9 | ||
| 35 | Michael Pickering | 11 | 10 | ||
| 36 | Grant Williams | 4 | 5 | ||
| 37 | Andrew Lamprill | 4 | 1 | ||
| 40 | Shane Burgmann | 1 | 0 | ||
| 41 | Peter Rohde | 21 | 0 | ||
| 43 | Andrew Ford | 4 | 0 | ||
| 44 | Sean Charles | 9 | 14 | ||
| 45 | Wayne Lamb | 2 | 0 | ||
| 46 | Matthew Mahoney | 2 | 0 | ||
| 46 | Haydn Robins | 14 | 1 | ||
| 49 | Brian Stynes | 2 | 0 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | Votes | ||||
| 1st | Glenn Lovett | 463 | |||
| 2nd | Andy Lovell | 320 | |||
| 3rd | David Schwarz | 301 | |||
| 4th | Garry Lyon | 244 | |||
| 5th | Jim Stynes | 239 | |||
| 6th | Todd Viney | 216 | |||
| 7th | Graeme Yeats | 213 | |||
| 8th | Steven Stretch | 209 | |||
| 9th | Michael Pickering | 178 | |||
| 10th | Peter Rohde | 144 | |||
| 11th | Andrew Obst | 107 | |||
| 12th | Greg Healy | 93 | |||
| 12th | Brett Lovett | 93 | |||
| 14th | Chris Sullivan | 84 | |||
| 15th | Haydn Robins | 80 | |||
| 16th | Rod Keogh | 76 | |||
| 16th | Sean Wight | 76 | |||
| 18th | Allen Jakovich | 54 | |||
| 19th | Andy Goodwin | 53 | |||
| 20th | Sean Charles | 48 | |||
| 21st | Paul Bryce | 33 | |||
| 22nd | Darren Cuthbertson | 26 | |||
| 23rd | Steven Febey | 16 | |||
| 23rd | Rod Grinter | 16 | |||
| 25th | Luke Beveridge | 12 | |||
| 25th | Andrew Ford | 12 | |||
| 27th | Darren Bennett | 11 | |||
| 27th | Andrew Lamprill | 11 | |||
| 27th | Stephen Tingay | 11 | |||
| 30th | Brian Stynes | 7 | |||
| 30th | Matthew Febey | 7 | |||
Other Awards
Most Consistent - Peter Rohde
Most Improved - David Schwarz
Best Team Player - Todd Viney
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 4 Reserves | Wayne Lamb | Unknown | Not guilty | ||
| Round 10 | Rod Keogh | Striking | 2 matches | ||
| Round 10 Reserves | Wayne Henwood | Striking | Unknown | ||
| Round 11 | Rod Grinter | Striking | 6 matches | ||
| Round 13 | Graeme Yeats | Striking | 3 matches | ||
| Round 17 Reserves | Robert Lemon | Striking | Unknown | ||
| Round 19 | Haydn Robins | Striking | 1 match | ||
| Round 22 | Darren Bennett | Charging | Not Guilty | ||
Reserves
1992 Reserves Season
Best and Fairest - Rod Grinter
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Essendon | 19 | 0 | 3 | 167.4 | 76 |
| Carlton | 16 | 1 | 5 | 129.0 | 66 |
| Melbourne | 16 | 0 | 6 | 135.7 | 64 |
| Footscray | 15 | 0 | 7 | 146.8 | 60 |
| St Kilda | 13 | 0 | 9 | 106.0 | 52 |
| North Melbourne | 12 | 0 | 10 | 115.4 | 48 |
| Collingwood | 11 | 0 | 11 | 95.7 | 44 |
| Hawthorn | 9 | 1 | 12 | 84.4 | 38 |
| Geelong | 9 | 0 | 13 | 92.1 | 36 |
| Fitzroy | 9 | 0 | 13 | 80.0 | 36 |
| Brisbane | 7 | 0 | 15 | 70.5 | 28 |
| Richmond | 4 | 0 | 18 | 72.2 | 16 |
| Sydney | 2 | 0 | 20 | 65.8 | 8 |
Finals
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| EF | North Melbourne | WIN | 99-57 | ||
| SF | Essendon | LOSS | 98-122 | ||
| PF | Carlton | WIN | 85-73 | ||
| GF | Essendon | LOSS | 94-127 | ||
Media
Age - 09/05/1992
Age - 10/08/1992
Age - 16/08/1992
Age - 26/08/1992
Age - 29/09/1992
Canberra Times - 19/12/1992
Links
AFL Tables page