The 2015 Melbourne Football Club season was the club's 116th year in the VFL/AFL since it began in 1897.
Despite improvements in 2014, Melbourne still produced a poor season in regards to results, which led to Melbourne receiving a financially and commercially challenging draw. The club played home games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against , , , , , , and whom typically do not draw high crowds in Melbourne, and played , Fremantle, , St Kilda and Western Bulldogs twice. Games were broadcast on the Seven Network (free to air) for seven games, down from nine in 2014.
Even with financial and commercial challenges, the club continued to host its annual Queen's Birthday clash against Collingwood in round 10 and played its first Friday night game since round 7, 2012, which was against in round 4 as a lead into ANZAC day. The club also played more traditional time slots, as the AFL aimed to have a more 'fan friendly' fixture, with seventeen day games (up from twelve), two twilight matches (down from five) and three at night (down from five). In addition, the club played 17 matches in Victoria, and traveled to Adelaide, Canberra, and Perth once, and the Northern Territory twice.
Melbourne sold two of its home games to the Northern Territory due to a sponsorship deal made with Tourism NT. One was at TIO Traeger Park in Alice Springs in round 9 against for the second year in a row. The other match was at TIO Stadium in Darwin for the sixth year in a row, which was against in round 14. In addition Melbourne hosted Greater Western Sydney at Etihad Stadium in round 23.
The club finished the season with 7 wins and 15 losses, this was the club's best result since the 2011 season.
2015 list changes
2014 free agency Player Date Free agent type Former club New club Compensation Ref James Frawley 6 October 2014 Unrestricted 1st round Sam Blease 3 November 2014 Delisted None Ben Newton 5 November 2014 Delisted None
2014 trades DateTrade gainedTraded fromTrade lostRef Jeff Garlett Pick 83 9 October 2014 Pick 61 Pick 79 Heritier Lumumba 15 October 2014 Mitch Clark(involved in a 3-way deal with ) Sam Frost Pick 40 Pick 53 16 October 2014 Pick 23
Retirements and delistings Player New club League ReasonRef Shannon Byrnes Casey Scorpions VFL Retired, but stayed as a development coach Sam Blease AFL Delisted Mitch Clisby North Adelaide SANFL Delisted Michael Evans Old Scotch VAFA Delisted Alex Georgiou Norwood SANFL Delisted Daniel Nicholson Port Fairy Hampden Football League Delisted James Strauss Old Scotch VAFA Delisted Luke Tapscott Sorrento MPNFL Delisted Dom Barry NT Thunder NEAFL Returned to Central Australia Maia Westrupp unknown unknown Returned to New Zealand
National draft Round Overall pick Player State Position Team from League from Ref 1 2 Christian Petracca Midfielder Eastern Ranges TAC Cup 1 3 Angus Brayshaw Midfielder Sandringham TAC Cup 2 40 Alex Neal-Bullen Midfielder Glenelg SANFL 3 42 (F/S) Billy Stretch Midfielder Glenelg SANFL 3 53 Oscar McDonald Defender North Ballarat TAC Cup
Rookie draft Round Overall pick Player State Position Team from League from Ref 1 2 Aaron vandenBerg Midfielder Ainslie NEAFL 2 20 Mitch White Defender Dandenong TAC Cup
2015 squad
2015 season
Pre-season
NAB Challenge
Week 1
Week 2
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 60 36 166.67% 1 1 0 0 4 83 51 162.75% 1 1 0 0 4 115 89 129.21% 1 1 0 0 4 113 89 126.97% 2 1 1 0 4 176 164 107.32% 2 1 1 0 4 159 178 89.33% 2 1 1 0 4 158 217 72.81% 1 0 1 0 0 60 69 86.96% 2 0 2 0 0 129 168 76.79% 1 0 1 0 0 92 127 72.44% 1 0 1 0 0 55 78 70.51% 1 0 1 0 0 55 80 68.75% 1 0 1 0 0 50 88 56.82% 1 0 1 0 0 60 114 52.63% 1 0 1 0 0 54 115 46.96% 2 0 2 0 0 104 226 46.02% 1 0 1 0 0 50 155 35.48% Total 22 7 15 0 28 1573 2044 76.96%
Tribunal/Match Review Panel cases Player RoundCharge category (Level)Verdict Early PleaResultVictimClub Ref(s) 3 Engaging in a Melee (second offence) Guilty Yes $1500 N/A N/A 3 Engaging in a Melee (second offence) Guilty Yes $1500 N/A N/A 3 Engaging in a Melee (second offence) Guilty Yes $1500 N/A N/A 3 Engaging in a Melee (first offence) Guilty Yes $1000 N/A N/A 6 Kneeing Guilty Yes $1000 18 Wrestling (first offence) Guilty Yes $1000 22 Wrestling (first offence) Guilty Yes $1000
Awards
Brownlow Medal tally
Player 3 vote games 2 vote games 1 vote games Total votes Bernie Vince 2 3 2 14 Nathan Jones 2 1 2 10 Jesse Hogan 0 2 1 5 Max Gawn 1 0 1 4 Jeremy Howe 1 0 0 3 Aaron vandenBerg 1 0 0 3 Jack Viney 0 1 1 3 Total 7 7 7 42
Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal tally (top 10)
Position Player Votes 1st Bernie Vince 328 2nd Jack Viney 327 3rd Tom McDonald 300 4th Jesse Hogan 286 5th Nathan Jones 270 6th Daniel Cross 242 7th Colin Garland 218 8th Jeff Garlett 216 9th Jeremy Howe 151 10th Lynden Dunn 148
Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy – Bernie Vince
Sid Anderson Memorial Trophy (Second in the Best and Fairest) – Jack Viney
Ron Barassi Snr Memorial Trophy (Third in the Best and Fairest) – Tom McDonald
Ivor Warne-Smith Memorial Trophy (Fourth in the Best and Fairest) – Jesse Hogan
Dick Taylor Memorial Trophy (Fifth in the Best and Fairest) – Nathan Jones
Harold Ball Memorial Trophy (Best Young Player) – Jesse Hogan
Troy Broadbridge Trophy (highest polling MFC player in the Casey Best and Fairest) – Aidan Riley
Ron Barassi Jnr. Leadership Award – Daniel Cross, Jack Trengove
Ian Ridley Club Ambassador Award – Neville Jetta
Norm Smith Memorial Trophy (Coach's Award) – Jack Viney
James McDonald Trophy (Best Team Man) – Jack Viney
Leading Goalkicker Award – Jesse Hogan (44 goals)
Best Female Player – Daisy Pearce
References
External links Official Website of the Melbourne Football Club Official Website of the AFL