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AFL news: Melbourne Demon Steven May learns his fate for his divisive bump on Carlton forward Francis Evans
AFL news: Melbourne Demon Steven May learns his fate for his divisive bump on Carlton forward Francis Evans

Daily Telegraph

time2 hours ago

  • Sport
  • Daily Telegraph

AFL news: Melbourne Demon Steven May learns his fate for his divisive bump on Carlton forward Francis Evans

Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News. Steven May has learned his fate for his hit on Carlton forward Francis Evans that fiercely divided the AFL fraternity and led to a hugely drawn out deliberation. May's act left 23-year-old Evans bloodied with a broken nose and a displaced tooth, graded by the Match Review Officer as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact. Referred directly to the Tribunal, the AFL was seeking a three-match ban for the incident and after taking well over an hour to make a call, the charge was upheld and that is the suspension he received. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. The Demons entered a not guilty plea to the rough conduct charge and wanted the case thrown out, listing nine reasons for that stance, including May's height, the unexpected bounce of the ball and the fact he didn't jump from the ground. They argued May's contact was not unreasonable as he accelerated towards a footy that was in dispute and the defender believed he would take possession first. Francis Evans was left in a bad way after the Steven May hit. Photos:The AFL argued 33-year-old May had breached his duty of care, however, and they got their way, with May to serve three matches on the sideline. Fox Footy's David Zita, who was at the hearing, reported May telling the Tribunal: 'It was sort of skimming across the surface, so I definitely thought it was my ball, given how the previous couple of bounces went. 'I was surprised Evans got to the ball first and did not try to bump him, maintaining the original line. 'I attempted to slow down, but it was too late. 'I just can't believe I didn't take possession. I thought I did everything right, so I'm just a bit shocked.' May was keen to see a replay. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/via Getty Images) Evans at least had a smile on his face in the rooms after Carlton's win. Picture: Michael Klein The Demons were expected to strongly lean on the case of Fremantle captain Alex Pearce, who initially copped a three-game ban for his collision that concussed Port Adelaide's Darcy Byrne-Jones back in May. In that incident, the defender had his suspension overturned in what was widely considered a crucial test case for players contesting the ball in collisions which cause concussion. The verdict means May season is all but over, now missing games against St Kilda, West Coast and the Western Bulldogs, returning for the round 23 clash with the Hawks. There were a huge range of opinions over May's incident, which came in the third quarter of the Blues' eight-point win. Port Adelaide veteran Travis Boak conceded the outcome for his former teammate Evans was a terrible look, but wondered what else May could have done. 'In my view it's a footy act, in terms of he looked like he had a play on the ball,' he said on AFL 360. 'He went for the ball and the last minute his decision is 'oh no, I can't get the ball' and sort of braced and that's where the impact came from. 'I don't think there's much he can do here, he had a play for the ball until the very last second and has to make a split decision almost to protect himself. 'Unfortunately 'Frankie' gets hit in the head and the outcome looks really bad, there's a lot of blood and concussion and we don't want to see that. 'But it's a decision made at the last second so I'm not sure what else he could've done.' Evans is surrounded by teammates after the collision. (Photo by) West Coast premiership player Will Schofield told AFL Tonight: 'Maybe we see a one-week penalty because of the outcome, but I don't think this is an act we need out of the game. 'I thought he did everything right until he didn't and those sorts of accidental outcomes, I don't think we should be penalising.' Pies great Nathan Buckley took a different stance, telling Fox Footy: 'I don't know whether our game is capable of allowing that anymore.' Many fans took the same side as Boak, but there was still a cross section of opinions on social media. One wrote on X: 'Should be nothing, stop encouraging the continued destruction of the game.' Another tweeted: 'That is 1000% a footy action, contesting the football at all times. It's not even a bump.' A third offered: 'There is no duty of care towards the player and May contacts the head.' A fourth wrote: 'S**t that's terrible, should be 5 weeks.' In the lead-up to the hearing, journalist Jon Ralph told Fox Footy's Midweek Tackle his intel regarding Melbourne's likely defence. 'They (the Demons) are convinced that Steven May will get off and they think that the Alex Pearce case is the key,' he said. 'Melbourne believes the fact that it was a marking contest for Alex Pearce, rather than a groundball, actually helps them. Because with Pearce, the ball was in the air, it wasn't moving (bouncing unpredictably) there. Another angle of the May incident. Photo: Fox Sports 'With May, on a slippery night, the ball bounced and bounced, and they felt it was absolutely going to bounce towards May. 'So, in that case, Tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson, when he dismissed the Pearce case, said 'it has never been the Tribunal's position that a concussion inevitably results in a careless finding'. 'Adrian Anderson, the Melbourne advocate, will go to work on that statement. Pearce's testimony was absolutely compelling, so Steven May … he will tell the truth. '(Melbourne's) position is that it would actually add confusion and indeed chaos if he was actually suspended, because we would be totally confused about where we're at, when we got a bit of clarity with Alex Pearce a few weeks back.' In the end, the AFL got its way and May will be out for three weeks. – with Fox Sports Originally published as AFL star Steven May learns his fate for divisive Carlton act

‘From a bygone era': AFL veteran sent to Tribunal after unique ruling
‘From a bygone era': AFL veteran sent to Tribunal after unique ruling

News.com.au

time2 days ago

  • Sport
  • News.com.au

‘From a bygone era': AFL veteran sent to Tribunal after unique ruling

Melbourne veteran Steven May is heading to the Tribunal with a three-week ban hanging over his head for a brutal collision with Carlton's Francis Evans. In the third quarter of Saturday night's enthralling eight-point Carlton win, the Demons defender and Evans charged towards a loose ball inside Melbourne's defensive 50 with Melbourne trailing by just two points. As the yellow Sherrin continued to roll over itself towards Carlton's goal, the ball popped up favourably for either player to make their own. Evans beat May to the ball by no more than a quarter of a second, but his mini victory very quickly ended his night — with May electing to brace at full speed after relinquishing his chase of the ball. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. It left Evans bloodied and battered in a hit that also knocked out a tooth of his. The 23-year-old was groggy to get to his feet as claret quickly appeared on his face, before leaving the field of play with a concussion diagnosis imminent. The Match Review Officer determined the incident was careless with severe impact and high contact, but rather than just handing May three weeks on the sidelines, he has referred it to the Tribunal - saving Melbourne $10,000 on needing to challenge the call. The AFL could ask for either three or four weeks in the hearing. While May never intended to concuss the rival Blue, the force and action with which he made contact on Evans has left three-time Richmond premiership player Jack Riewoldt with little doubt over an appropriate sanction. 'I think it's unfortunate Steven May's collected him high, but if you come in with that sort of velocity there … the collision was inevitable. Steven May has a duty of care when Francis Evans has the ball there,' Riewoldt told Fox Footy's Super Saturday Live after the final siren. 'For me, this will go to the Tribunal — and it's how hard, or how big a penalty they want to give Steven May. If they rank it severe, it could be anywhere from four to five weeks.' Two-time All-Australian David King agreed with Riewoldt's proposed suspension, and even wondered whether the hit could end May's 2025 season. 'My view is, you've got to come at it from the victim's point of view. What are we asking Evans to do?' King questioned. 'He's entitled to go at the ball in that fashion, and the game is supposed to protect him — that's what we've been preaching. So I don't have any empathy (for May) really in this instance, I think he knew he was going to make contact. 'I wouldn't be surprised if that's the last time we see Steven May this season.' King also said: 'He picked him off. It's as simple as that. He knew exactly what he was doing and he picked him off. This is from a bygone era. This is not 2025. 'He's played his last game for the season. That's as bad as it gets, you've got a player in vulnerable position, you choose to bump, you hit nothing but the absolute middle of his face. 'This is a six-weeker for me. It doesn't get worse than that.' In another unfortunate hit, a Tom De Koning knee to the back of May's head in the dying minutes of the match saw the former Sun taken from the ground for concussion testing of his own — which coach Simon Goodwin later confirmed he failed in his post-match press conference. It means the 33-year-old will join Evans in the league's concussion protocols for at least 12 days, and rules him out of a return to AFL before August 2 against West Coast; regardless of whether or not he is suspended. 'This is a really interesting test case for Michael Christian, in a year full of them. If he has elected to bump, then it's gone — that's done,' Fox Footy reporter David Zita added. 'But even if he hasn't 'elected' to bump, if he is contesting the ball, is it reasonable for him to contest the ball in that way? That's what the MRO's going to have to weigh up. 'It might be a sleepless night (for Michael Christian) ... if he hasn't done that (elected to bump), he's missing at least three weeks and potentially more — depending on what the AFL wants to try and push for at the Tribunal. Once it is reportable, then it's automatically three weeks at least because of the outcome with Francis Evans. 'What we've learnt this season, and in seasons past, is that particular way to approach a contest is not really something permitted in the rules or by the MRO.' May has previously been suspended long-term for a bump on an opposition player, most notably back in 2016 when knocking out Brisbane ruck Stefan Martin during his time playing at Gold Coast. Saturday night's clash was May's 249th at AFL level, however his milestone match looks likely to have to wait until the back end of this year — or worst case scenario — at the start of 2026. 'I think he's in trouble. It's a contest that he's second to the ball (so) you then have to have a duty of care to slow down. The stride length doesn't change, he doesn't show any pattern to slow down. He gets him high with a shoulder to the face,' Riewoldt ended by saying. 'It's a no-brainer for mine, it definitely goes to the Tribunal. You see the scenes post that, it's a pretty gruesome injury. 'Nothing would shock me here. Whether they go three, four or five (weeks), I think it's going to be on the higher scale of a suspension.' A May-less Melbourne will face up against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium next Sunday to close out Round 20.

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