Melbourne Football Club

2009 season
Melbourne vs St Kilda 2009
President	Jim Stynes (2nd season)
Coach	Dean Bailey (2nd season)
Captains	James McDonald (2nd season)
Home ground	MCG (100,018 capacity)
Pre-season	First round
AFL season	16th
Finals series	DNQ
Best and fairest	Aaron Davey
Leading goalkicker	Russell Robertson (29 goals)
Highest home attendance	61,287 (round 11 vs.Collingwood)
Lowest home attendance	7,311 (round 17 vs.Sydney)
Average home attendance	27,570
Club membership	31,506 ( 1,887 / 6.37%)
← 2008 2010 →

The2009Melbourne Football Club season was the club's 110th year in theVFL/AFL since it began in 1897.

Melbourne hosted 10 of its 11 home games at theMCG. For the third year in a row, they played their remaining home game atManuka Oval in the nation's capital,Canberra, against theSydney Swans during Round 17.Dean Bailey coached his second year as senior coach at Melbourne. After taking the captaincy fromDavid Neitz in round 6 the year before withCameron Bruce,James McDonald was made full-time captain for the season.^[1]

On 2 August, Melbourne presidentJim Stynes announced he was diagnosed with cancer and would be stepping aside from his duties until the conclusion of the2009 AFL season.^[2]Don McLardy took over as acting president for that period of time.

Melbourne continued their Debt Demolition campaign in the month of August raising $567,132 and cutting their debt to $1.5 million.^[3] Melbourne also had a yearly profit of $587,183.^[4]

Melbourne only won four matches for the year, receiving their 12thwooden spoon. Melbourne came under scrutiny in the later rounds of the season (most notably in round 18 againstRichmond) for "tanking", i.e. losing games in order to receive a priority draft pick;^[5] but, afterextensive investigations in 2012 and 2013, the AFL found the club not guilty of these allegations.^[6] Because the Demons won four games or fewer for the second year in a row, the club received a priority pick at the start of the2009 National Draft.

Round	Overall pick	Player	State	Position	Team from	League from
1	1	Jack Watts		Forward	Sandringham Dragons	TAC Cup
Priority	17	Sam Blease		Midfield	Eastern Ranges	TAC Cup
2	19	James Strauss		Forward	Oakleigh Chargers	TAC Cup
3	35	Jamie Bennell		Utility	Swan Districts	WAFL
4	51	Neville Jetta		Defender	Swan Districts	WAFL
5	64	Rohan Bail		Defender	Mount Gravatt	QAFL

Round	Overall pick	Player	State	Position	Team from	League from
1	1	Liam Jurrah		Forward	Yuendemu Nightcliff	CAFL NTFL

Round	Overall pick	Player	State	Position	Team from	League from
1	1	Jordie McKenzie		Midfield	Geelong Falcons	TAC Cup
2	17	Rhys Healey		Forward/Midfield	Bendigo Pioneers	TAC Cup
3	33	Daniel Hughes		Forward	Melbourne	AFL

Week 1: Melbourne looked to be on the verge of causing an upset over the2008 Premiers,Hawthorn, leading 1.8.8 (65) to 0.5.2 (32) at three-quarter time. However, the Hawks made a successful comeback, keeping the 2008 wooden spooners goal-less in the final quarter asJarryd Roughead snatched the lead back for Hawthorn with a mark and a goal 30 seconds from full-time.

Round 4: Melbourne registered their first win of the season defeating a winlessRichmond by 8 points. Despite holding a 31-point lead at half time, the Demons held off a fast finishing Tigers outfit in the final quarter to secure their first win against a Victorian team sinceround 22, 2007. It was also Melbourne's first win as the "away" side sinceround 14, 2007.

Round 10: Melbourne put up a brave first half effort against an undefeatedSt Kilda, trailing by only 8 points at the main break. However, the Saints kept Melbourne goalless in the second half to finish out comfortable winners by 27 points.

Round 11: In theQueen's Birthday clash, the2008 number 1 draft pickJack Watts made his debut againstCollingwood. He received a harsh welcoming to the AFL when he came off from the interchange bench for the first time in the game: Watts was immediately crunched by the larger bodies of three Collingwood players while the ball came his direction,^[7] as Melbourne suffered its biggest loss for the season (66 points).

Round 12:Liam Jurrah (the first AFL player from a remote tribal community) made his AFL debut, againstEssendon. He kicked his first goal with a marking attempt that turned into a falling crumb in the goal-square. This goal was nominated forGoal of the Year. Melbourne were out-classed by the Bombers, losing easily by 48 points.

Round 14: On 2 July, in an emotional press conference, Melbourne presidentJim Stynes announced that he was diagnosed with cancer and had to step down as president for the rest of the season. Melbourne played its most emotional game of the year againstWest Coast and recorded its highest first quarter score of the season. Despite a late charge by the Eagles in the final quarter, Melbourne resisted the attack and won the game by 20 points. After the match, the players headed into the dressing rooms holding up Stynes' infamous number 37 guernsey, which he wore during the1987 Preliminary Final against Hawthorn.Jack Grimes received theNAB Rising Star nomination for round 14.

Round 15: Melbourne won consecutive games for the first time sinceround 11, 2007 when it downedPort Adelaide by 11 points, after holding a 30-point lead midway through the third quarter.Liam Jurrah received theNAB Rising Star nomination for Round 15.

Round 18: In a match that was criticised for tanking strategies,Jordan McMahon took a mark in Richmond's forward 50 and goaled after the final siren to give the Tigers a 4-point win. During the game Melbourne coachDean Bailey placed several players in unusual positions. These included placing ruckmanPaul Johnson and midfielderJames McDonald in the backline; playing forwardBrad Miller in the ruck; placing defendersJames Frawley andMatthew Warnock in the forward line, as well as leavingRussell Robertson andColin Sylvia out of the game forMichael Newton and rookieJake Spencer.^[8]

Round 20: In front of a crowd of only 13,004, Melbourne inflicted its only thrashing of the season against fellow cellar dwellersFremantle after a blowout in the second quarter to win by 63 points. They would record its first 60-point victory sinceround 8, 2006 as well as the first time they scored 20 or more goals in a game since round 22, 2007.

Round 22: VeteransRussell Robertson,Paul Wheatley andMatthew Whelan played their last ever AFL match, against ladder leaders St Kilda. Melbourne put on another strong first half performance, trailing by only a goal at half time, which included a backwards goal from Liam Jurrah at the start of the quarter. However, St Kilda ran over the top of Melbourne in the second half, winning comfortably by 47 points to secure theminor premiership. Melbourne, on the other hand, received the wooden spoon and ensured that their priority pick would be safe. They had the first and second picks in the2009 AFL draft.

Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy –Aaron Davey

Sid Anderson Memorial Trophy (Second in the Best and Fairest) –Brent Moloney

Ron Barassi Snr Memorial Trophy (Third in the Best and Fairest) –Cameron Bruce

Ivor Warne-Smith Memorial Trophy (Fourth in the Best and Fairest) –Matthew Bate

Dick Taylor Memorial Trophy (Fifth in the Best and Fairest) –Nathan Jones,Colin Sylvia,Matthew Warnock

Harold Ball Memorial Trophy (Best First Year Player) –Liam Jurrah

Troy Broadbridge Trophy (highest polling MFC player in the Casey Best and Fairest) –Shane Valenti

Ron Barassi Leadership Award –Brent Moloney

Ian Ridley Club Ambassador Award –Shane Valenti

Norm Smith Memorial Trophy (Coach's Award) –James Frawley

Leading Goalkicker Award –Russell Robertson (29)

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• Official Website of the AFL

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