The 2017 Melbourne Football Club season was the club's 118th year in the VFL/AFL since it began in 1897.
Senior personnel Simon Goodwin entered his first season as senior coach after taking over from departed coach, Paul Roos, as part of the succession plan. A restructure in the player development area saw the head of development, Brett Allison leave the club with the club electing not to renew his contract; former player and assistant coach, Matthew Egan was hired in September 2016 as the replacement for Allison. Former and player, Troy Chaplin joined the club in a newly created role, the offensive coordinator, in his first year as an assistant coach after he retired during the 2016 season. The club secured two-time Geelong premiership player and former Geelong and development coach, Max Rooke as a development coach in November 2016. Glen Bartlett will continue in his role as club president, a role he has held since August 2013. Chief Executive Officer, Peter Jackson, will continue with the club after signing a contract extension to the end of the 2018 season.
Fixture summary After having a home game at Etihad Stadium every season since 2011, the club didn't have to play a home match at Etihad in 2017, which drew pleasure from both the club and fans alike. The team played its first seven matches in Victoria and then travelled to Adelaide to play at Adelaide Oval in round eight; the final three matches of the season were played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against non-finalists in 2016. The club again hosted in the annual Queen's Birthday clash in round twelve and played in the Anzac Day eve match in round five; due to an ongoing sponsorship with Tourism NT, the club hosted two matches in the Northern Territory, the first was against at TIO Traeger Park in round ten and the second was at TIO Stadium against in round seventeen. The club played its first Friday night match since the 2015 season and the second in total since the 2012 season, when they hosted at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round fifteen. The club had the equal-most six day breaks with eight in total, including two back-to-back from rounds thirteen to fifteen.
In addition to the Friday night match, the club played eleven Saturday matches (five afternoons, three twilights, and three nights), eight Sunday matches (all afternoon matches) and two Monday matches (one afternoon and one night). Nine matches were broadcast on free-to-air on the Seven Network and thirteen were broadcast on pay TV on Fox Footy. The teams the club played twice were Adelaide, , Collingwood, and , with Adelaide and North Melbourne the only teams finishing in the top eight in 2016. With the off-season recruitment of player, Jordan Lewis, both AFL Media and the Herald Sun noted the round seven match against Hawthorn as the "match to watch" for Melbourne's season. Analysis by Champion Data ranked the fixture difficulty as the eighth hardest out of the eighteen teams.
2017 list changes
2016 trades DateTrade gainedTraded fromTrade lostRef 18 October Jordan LewisPick 57Pick 68 Pick 48Pick 66 19 October Michael HibberdPick 59 Pick 29Pick 68 20 October Pat McKennaPick 51Pick 69 Pick 57Pick 59 20 October Pick 47 Lynden DunnPick 51
Retirements and delistings Player New club League ReasonCareer gamesCareer goalsRef Chris Dawes Sorrento MPNFL Delisted 121 130 Jack Grimes Hurstbridge NFL Delisted 100 11 Matt Jones South Croydon EFL Delisted 61 10 Max King South Croydon EFL Delisted 0 0 Viv Michie Collegians VAFA Delisted 22 1 Ben Newton focusing on knee rehab in 2017, planning to play in 2018 Delisted 17 12 Dean Terlich SANFL Delisted 35 2
National draft Round Overall pick Player State Position Team from League from Ref 3 46 Mitch Hannan VIC Utility VFL 4 68 Dion Johnstone VIC Forward Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup
Rookie draft Round Overall pick Player State Position Team from League from Ref 1 8 Lachlan Filipovic VIC Ruckman Sandringham Dragons TAC Cup 2 25 Tim Smith VIC Forward VFL 3 41 Declan Keilty VIC Utility VFL
2017 squad
2017 season
Pre-season
JLT Community Series
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 4 113 56 201.89% 1 1 0 0 4 112 74 151.35% 1 1 0 0 4 122 87 140.23% 1 1 0 0 4 88 65 135.38% 2 2 0 0 8 216 162 133.33% 2 2 0 0 8 176 146 120.55% 1 0 1 0 4 104 91 114.29% 1 0 1 0 4 99 96 103.13% 2 1 1 0 4 177 182 97.25% 1 1 1 0 4 187 199 93.67% 1 0 1 0 0 104 106 98.11% 1 0 1 0 0 91 94 96.81% 1 0 1 0 0 90 104 86.54% 1 0 1 0 0 75 88 85.23% 1 0 1 0 0 97 126 76.98% 1 0 1 0 0 62 97 63.92% 1 0 1 0 0 50 85 58.82% Total 22 12 10 0 48 2035 2034 105.22%
Tribunal/Match Review Panel cases Player RoundCharge category (level)Verdict Early pleaResultVictimClub Ref(s) JLT Community Series Making contact with umpire Guilty Yes $1000 Round 1 Striking Guilty Yes 1 match Round 2 Striking Guilty Yes 3 matches Round 2 Striking Guilty Yes 2 matches Round 5 Involved in a melee (third offence) Guilty Yes $2500 Round 5 Involved in a melee (third offence) Guilty Yes $2500 Round 8 Making contact with umpire Guilty Yes $1000 Round 9 Striking Guilty Yes 1 match Round 13 Wrestling (first offence) Guilty Yes $1000 Round 15 Striking Guilty 6 matches Round 17 Striking Guilty Yes 2 matches Round 17 Forceful contact from front-on Guilty Yes $1000 Round 22 Striking Guilty Yes $1500 Round 22 Misconduct Guilty Yes $1000
Awards
Brownlow Medal tally
Player 3 vote games 2 vote games 1 vote games Total votes Clayton Oliver 2 1 4 12 Jack Viney 3 0 0 9 Tom McDonald 1 3 0 9 Michael Hibberd 2 0 1 7 Nathan Jones 1 2 0 7 Cameron Pedersen 1 0 1 4 Jesse Hogan 1 0 0 3 Christian Salem 1 0 0 3 Dom Tyson 0 1 1 3 Max Gawn 0 1 1 3 Jeff Garlett 0 1 0 2 Jordan Lewis 0 1 0 2 Christian Petracca 0 1 0 2 Oscar McDonald 0 0 1 1 Jack Watts 0 0 1 1 Total 12 11 10 68
Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal tally (top 10)
Position Player Votes 1st Clayton Oliver 530 2nd Jack Viney 346=3rd Nathan Jones327 Jordan Lewis 5th Neville Jetta 321 6th Michael Hibberd 318 7th Christian Petracca 302 8th Jeff Garlett 284 9th Tom McDonald 278 10th Dom Tyson 275
Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy – Clayton Oliver
Sid Anderson Memorial Trophy (second in the best and fairest) – Jack Viney
Ron Barassi Snr Memorial Trophy (third in the best and fairest) – Nathan Jones and Jordan Lewis
Ivor Warne-Smith Memorial Trophy (fourth in the best and fairest) – not awarded
Dick Taylor Memorial Trophy (fifth in the best and fairest) – Neville Jetta
Harold Ball Memorial Trophy (best young player) – Clayton Oliver
Troy Broadbridge Trophy (highest polling MFC player in the Casey best and fairest) – Jack Trengove
Ron Barassi Jnr. Leadership Award – Jack Viney
Ian Ridley Club Ambassador Award – Neville Jetta
Norm Smith Memorial Trophy (coach's award) – Neville Jetta
James McDonald Trophy (best team man) – Clayton Oliver
Leading goalkicker award – Jeff Garlett (42 goals)
Women's team
Fixture
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Ladder
Tribunal and match review panel cases Player Round Charge category Verdict Early plea Result Victim ClubRef(s) Round 1 Front-on contact Guilty Yes 1 match Round 4 Rough conductNot guilty N/A N/A
References
External links Official Website of the Melbourne Football Club Official Website of the AFL