This was the season in which player No. 101, Horrie Drane, made his senior debut. From Leopold, he played 38 games for the Club before moving to South Melbourne.
One of the Cordner Clan - Harry - played his first senior game in 1903, making him the 106th Melbourne player since the foundation of the League. He moved on to play for University, before leaving to briefly pursue medicine in Western Australia.
There were, of course, those who forged lengthy careers in the red and blue colours in the early years of the century. These included Bernie Nolan at No. 121, who played 84 games from 1904, captained the side in 1909, and forged an admirable reputation as a fearsome defender. In the same season, player No. 127, 'Joe' Pearce, joined Nolan in the backline for the first of his 152 games. Pearce was a stalwart of the side, who lost his life at Gallipoli.
Another Cordner, Ted Snr., made his senior debut at No. 136 in 1905. He would play only two games before moving to University, but would see his four sons - Ted Jnr, Don, Denis and John - all play for Melbourne in the 1940s and 1950s.
Some of the names of the time were unusual and delightful - Basil Onyons, at No. 147, the nippy goalkicker, Hedley Tomkins, at No. 151, Fred 'Codger' Harris at No. 179, and Harry 'Waratah' Cope at No. 178. While their on-field success was certainly limited, the personality and ability of the team was undoubted, and was building to a crescendo only cut short by the cruel intervention of war.
