Coach: Checker Hughes
Captain: Norm Smith
Finishing Position: 9th
Best and Fairest: Fred Fanning
Leading Goalkicker: Fred Fanning (67)
Best First Year Player: Roy Stabb
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Awards | Seconds | |
After two disappointing wartime seasons Percy Beames resigned as coach in February and Frank "Checker" Hughes was asked to come out of retirement and take over as coach after two years out of the game.
With Melbourne still exiled at Punt Road due to the MCG being used in war service, they looked to rebuild from 80 players who turned up for pre-season training but saw no marked improvement in 1944. They started brightly, winning three of their first five games before military transfers started to take their toll and they were forced to blood more new players.
Selection committee consisted of Percy Beames, Fred Ince, Richard Taylor, Checker Hughes and Norm Smith.
The league considered and rejected a proposal to take premiership points off clubs with poor on-field disciplinary records. Joe Blair and JC Hogg were the Demons delegates to the VFL.
With the war coming to an end attendance increased, and while expenses rose significantly due to a rise in payments to players there were also increases in receipts and significant gains in membership. Senior members increased by 45% and junior members by 150%, but while receipts rose from £881 to £2781 and expenses from £1627 to £4323.
Melbourne's VFL delegates were Joe Blair and Bruce Hogg.
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | |||
| 1 | Carlton | WIN | |||
| 2 | St. Kilda | WIN | |||
| 3 | Collingwood | LOSS | |||
| 4 | Richmond | LOSS | |||
| 5 | Geelong | WIN | |||
| 6 | Footscray | LOSS | |||
| 7 | North Melbourne | LOSS | |||
| 8 | South Melbourne | LOSS | |||
| 9 | Fitzroy | LOSS | |||
| 10 | Hawthorn | WIN | |||
| 11 | Essendon | WIN | |||
| 12 | Carlton | LOSS | |||
| 13 | St. Kilda | WIN | |||
| 14 | Collingwood | LOSS | |||
| 15 | Richmond | LOSS | |||
| 16 | Geelong | WIN | |||
| 17 | Footscray | WIN | |||
| 18 | North Melbourne | LOSS | |||
| 19 | South Melbourne | LOSS | |||
| 20 | Fitzroy | LOSS | |||
Exhibition Match
| Opposition | Result | ||||
| St Kilda | LOSS | ||||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| South Melbourne | 16 | 0 | 4 | 131.8 | 64 |
| Collingwood | 15 | 0 | 5 | 128.8 | 60 |
| North Melbourne | 13 | 0 | 7 | 111.1 | 52 |
| Carlton | 13 | 0 | 7 | 106.9 | 52 |
| Footscray | 12 | 0 | 8 | 108.9 | 48 |
| Fitzroy | 11 | 1 | 8 | 119.1 | 46 |
| Richmond | 11 | 0 | 9 | 103.4 | 44 |
| Essendon | 10 | 1 | 9 | 99.1 | 32 |
| Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 12 | 99.1 | 32 |
| Hawthorn | 6 | 0 | 14 | 85.6 | 24 |
| Geelong | 2 | 0 | 18 | 64.9 | 8 |
| St. Kilda | 2 | 0 | 18 | 62.2 | 8 |
Exhibition match
| Opposition | Result | ||||
| Warracknabeal | WIN | ||||
Playing List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 2 | Roy Dowsing | 19 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Ron Irwin | 16 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Norm Smith | 17 | 33 | ||
| 5 | Billy Deans | 20 | 0 | ||
| 6 | Fred Fanning | 19 | 67 | ||
| 7 | Clem Conroy | 9 | 1 | ||
| 8 | Ralph Latham | 16 | 11 | ||
| 9 | Ivan Porter | 19 | 26 | ||
| 10 | Gordon Kramer | 12 | 1 | ||
| 11 | Gordon Bowman | 6 | 3 | ||
| 12 | Jack Mueller | 5 | 5 | ||
| 14 | Ron Hall | 2 | 0 | ||
| 14 | George Archibald | 6 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Ron Baggott | 16 | 25 | ||
| 16 | George Bickford | 5 | 0 | ||
| 17 | Allan La Fontaine | 14 | 5 | ||
| 18 | Adrian Dullard | 9 | 1 | ||
| 19 | Bill Scanlan | 14 | 4 | ||
| 20 | Harry New | 1 | 0 | ||
| 20 | George Lenne | 4 | 0 | ||
| 21 | Don Cordner | 20 | 8 | ||
| 22 | Ernie O'Rourke | 12 | 12 | ||
| 22 | Roy Stabb | 14 | 2 | ||
| 23 | Norm Leverton | 2 | 0 | ||
| 24 | Dick Kennedy | 9 | 5 | ||
| 25 | Col McLean | 20 | 1 | ||
| 26 | Esmond Downey | 6 | 0 | ||
| 27 | Keith Molloy | 8 | 0 | ||
| 28 | Percy Taylor | 2 | 3 | ||
| 30 | Norm Wilson | 7 | 4 | ||
| 31 | Frank Hughes | 8 | 0 | ||
| 31 | Jack Mitchell | 6 | 9 | ||
| 32 | Jim Oppy | 3 | 0 | ||
| 33 | Bruce Edge | 3 | 0 | ||
| 33 | Ern Rowarth | 11 | 1 | ||
| 35 | Charlie Newman | 4 | 0 | ||
| 37 | Frank Kennedy | 10 | 6 | ||
| 38 | Jack Stock | 5 | 0 | ||
| Harry Rowe | 1 | 0 | |||
Best and Fairest
| Player | |||||
| 1st | Fred Fanning | ||||
| 2nd | Roy Dowsing | ||||
Other Awards
Most Determined - Col McLean
Most unselfish - Norm Smith
Most consistent - Donald Cordner
Best clubman - Ivan Porter
Best utility - Ralph Latham
Most improved - Bill Scanlan
Most dependable - Ron Irwin
Training trophy - Billy Deans
Most promising under 20 - Clem Conroy, Ern Rowarth, Gordon Bowman
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 1 | Ron Irwin | Striking | 4 matches | ||
Seconds
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Fitzroy | 18 | 0 | 2 | 72 | |
| Footscray | 16 | 0 | 4 | 64 | |
| Essendon | 14 | 1 | 5 | 58 | |
| Collingwood | 14 | 0 | 6 | 56 | |
| South Melbourne | 14 | 0 | 6 | 56 | |
| Carlton | 12 | 0 | 8 | 48 | |
| North Melbourne | 9 | 0 | 11 | 36 | |
| Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 14 | 24 | |
| Geelong | 5 | 2 | 13 | 24 | |
| Richmond | 5 | 1 | 14 | 22 | |
| St Kilda | 4 | 1 | 15 | 18 | |
| Hawthorn | 0 | 1 | 19 | 2 | |
Media
Argus - 21/03/1945
Football Record R8 1945
Argus - 23/10/1945
Herald - 04/02/1946
Barrier Daily Truth - 06/02/1946
Argus - 07/02/1946
Notes
Ernie O'Rourke and Roy Stabb are both shown as wearing number 22 in official club records. Football Record shows Stabb in #22 for his Round 3 debut.