The 2014 Melbourne Football Club season was the club's 115th year in the VFL/AFL since it began in 1897.
On the back of three seasons stemming back to 2011, Melbourne underwent changes to its football department in 2013. The most significant of these changes included the appointment of 2005 premiership coach Paul Roos for two seasons (with an option of a third season). It also saw the temporary appointment of former CEO, Peter Jackson, as Melbourne's new CEO for two seasons and the appointment of former Bernie Naylor Medalist Glen Bartlett as president.
Due to Melbourne's on-field performances in recent seasons, Melbourne received a very financially challenging fixture. For the second consecutive season, Melbourne did not receive a Friday night game and were forced to play , , , and twice (none of whom are traditionally large crowd drawers in Melbourne's home games).
Melbourne sold two of its home games into the Northern Territory due to a sponsorship deal made with Tourism NT. One was at TIO Traeger Park in Alice Springs in round 11 against Port Adelaide. This will be the first ever AFL game held at this stadium for premiership points as well as the first in Central Australia. The other game was at TIO Stadium in Darwin against in round 16. In addition Melbourne hosted the at Etihad Stadium in round 19 as hosted Port Adelaide at the MCG later that day instead.
Despite the financially challenging fixture, Melbourne hosted a handful of blockbuster games, which included Paul Roos coaching against his old side in round 5 for the first time. Melbourne continued to play its annual Queen's Birthday clash against Collingwood in round 12 (despite a record low crowd of 50,853 in 2013). Melbourne also hosted for the first time since Round 11, 2009 in round 17.
2014 list changes
2013 free agency Player Date Free agent type Former club New club Compensation Ref Colin Sylvia 4 October 2013 Unrestricted 2nd round Daniel Cross 1 November 2013 Delisted None Aidan Riley 11 November 2013 Delisted None
2013 trades DateTrade gainedTraded fromTrade lostRef Viv Michie 16 October 2013 Pick 54 Dom TysonPick 9Pick 53 18 October 2013 Pick 2Pick 20Pick 72 Bernie Vince 18 October 2013 Pick 23
Retirements and delistings Player New club League ReasonRef David Rodan West Preston Lakeside Northern Football League Retired Aaron Davey Richmond reserves VFL Retired Joel Macdonald unknown unknown Retired James Sellar South Fremantle WAFL Delisted Josh Tynan VFL Delisted Troy Davis VFL Delisted Tom Gillies St Mary's GFL Delisted Tom Couch Collingwood reserves VFL Delisted James Magner VFL Delisted Nathan Stark Glenelg SANFL Delisted Rory Taggert Sturt SANFL Delisted Neville Jetta AFL Delisted but re-drafted as a rookie
National draft Round Overall pick Player State Position Team from League from 1 9 Christian Salem Midfield Sandringham Dragons TAC Cup 3 40 Jay Kennedy Harris Forward Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup 4 57 Jayden Hunt Midfield/Defender Brighton Grammar APS 6 82 (RP) Mitch Clisby Midfield/Defender AFL
Rookie draft Round Overall pick Player State Position Team from League from 1 2 James Harmes Midfield Dandenong Stingrays TAC Cup 2 19 Max King Forward/Ruckman Murray Bushrangers TAC Cup 3 35 Alexis Georgiou Forward/Ruckman Norwood SANFL 4 50 Neville Jetta Utility AFL
2014 squad
2014 season
Pre-season
NAB Challenge
Week 1
Week 2
Practice matches
Week 3
Home and away season
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
Round 22
Round 23
Ladder
Ladder breakdown by opposition Opponent Played Won Lost Drew Premiership points Points for Points against Percentage (%) 1 1 0 0 4 81 58 139.66 1 1 0 0 4 91 74 122.97 1 1 0 0 4 70 67 104.48 1 1 0 0 4 78 77 101.30 1 0 1 0 0 78 86 90.70 2 0 2 0 0 168 190 88.42 2 0 2 0 0 144 167 86.23 1 0 1 0 0 51 68 75.00 2 0 2 0 0 159 230 69.13 1 0 1 0 0 51 74 68.92 1 0 1 0 0 65 115 56.52 1 0 1 0 0 38 69 55.07 1 0 1 0 0 28 61 45.90 2 0 2 0 0 81 177 45.76 1 0 1 0 0 36 102 35.29 1 0 1 0 0 34 97 35.05 2 0 2 0 0 83 242 34.30 Total 22 4 18 0 16 1336 1954 68.38
Tribunal/Match Review Panel cases PlayerRoundCharge category (Level)VerdictEarly PleaPointsResultVictimClub Ref(s) Bernie Vince 3 Reckless Contact with an Umpire (first offence) Guilty Yes N/A $1950 Ben Ryan N/A Alex Georgiou 6 Striking (level one)Guilty Yes 93.75 Reprimand Lance Franklin Jack Viney 7 Rough ConductGuilty Appealed No (straight to tribunal) 200 0 2 Matches N/A Tom Lynch Chris Dawes 9 Striking (level three)Guilty Yes 168.75 1 Match Alex Rance Jordie McKenzie 14 Striking (level three)Guilty Yes 168.75 1 Match Lindsay Thomas Neville Jetta 15 Rough Conduct (level two)Guilty Yes 185.63 1 Match Fletcher Roberts Nathan Jones 22 Reckless Contact with an Umpire (first offence) Guilty Yes N/A $1950 Matthew Leppard N/A Jordie McKenzie 23 Negligent Contact with an Umpire (first offence) Guilty Yes N/A $900 Ben Ryan N/A Chris Dawes 23 Striking (level two) Guilty Yes 145.31 1 Match Andrew Swallow
Awards
Brownlow Medal tally
Player 1 vote games 2 vote games 3 vote games Total votes Nathan Jones 1 3 4 (13) Dom Tyson 3 0 2 (11) Bernie Vince 2 0 0 (6) Lynden Dunn 1 0 0 (3) James Frawley 1 0 0 (3) Mark Jamar 0 1 0 (2) Chris Dawes 0 1 0 (2) Jeremy Howe 0 0 2 (2) Total 8 5 8 (42)
Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal tally (top 10)
Position Player Votes 1st Nathan Jones 311 2nd Dom Tyson 293 3rd Bernie Vince 270 4th Lynden Dunn 264 5th Daniel Cross 238 6th Jeremy Howe 220 7th Tom McDonald 212 8th James Frawley 192 9th Neville Jetta 191 10th Jack Watts 185
Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy – Nathan Jones
Sid Anderson Memorial Trophy (Second in the Best and Fairest) – Dom Tyson
Ron Barassi Snr Memorial Trophy (Third in the Best and Fairest) – Bernie Vince
Ivor Warne-Smith Memorial Trophy (Fourth in the Best and Fairest) – Lynden Dunn
Dick Taylor Memorial Trophy (Fifth in the Best and Fairest) – Daniel Cross
Harold Ball Memorial Trophy (Best Young Player) – Dom Tyson
Troy Broadbridge Trophy (highest polling MFC player in the Casey Best and Fairest) – Max Gawn
Ron Barassi Jnr. Leadership Award – Lynden Dunn
Ian Ridley Club Ambassador Award – Jack Watts
Norm Smith Memorial Trophy (Coach's Award) – Neville Jetta
James McDonald Trophy (Best Team Man) – Daniel Cross
Leading Goalkicker Award – Chris Dawes (20)
References
External links Official Website of the Melbourne Football Club Official Website of the AFL