AFL Gather Round Adelaide v Melbourne: All the analysis and fallout as the Demons have dream outcome from Doomsday trip
Steven May made headlines for his comments about Collingwood at Melbourne’s 2023 best and fairest, but following the Demons win over Adelaide he explained what he was trying to say in the moment.
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All Australian full back Steven May has finally revealed the true intention of his savage best-and-fairest burn claiming his team should have “smoked” Collingwood last year after another remarkable performance playing hurt against Adelaide.
May broke two ribs and damaged his vertebrae but was passed fit after only 12 days on the sidelines and played a key role in the Demons’ Adelaide Oval victory over the Crows.
He admitted he was shocked when his doctor told him he had damaged his vertebrae after spending a night in hospital where doctors also assessed his heart given the adrenaline still in his system after the win over the Western Bulldogs.
Remarkably, May did not have a painkilling injection on Thursday night to dull the pain in his ribs because he is scared of needles.
And when Taylor Walker buffeted him early in the contest he knew he was on for a long night.
“There was probably a little bit of carry-on from that first contest,” he told News Corp post-match.
“I didn’t feel great, which was to be expected. But there was also confidence from it. OK, that’s as bad as it’s going to be, I can still keep playing, I can spoil, grit your teeth and get through it. It was probably a blessing in disguise to cop that hit early and then I was able to get through it.
“When I was in the hospital bed and I heard (about the vertebrae damage) I thought, “Gee no way”, but it’s almost like a half-half bone thing. It’s in a good spot and I was still able to play.
“I am actually scared of needles and they threw it up (as a possibility), we can give you a jab. But everyone knows me. So I was able to get out there. The first couple of days you can’t roll over, you can’t walk properly and then all the coaches say it’s not too bad. It will get better quick. And I said, “When is that going to happen?”. I didn’t play my best but I was able to play a role and not be a liability out there.”
May played in the 2021 Grand Final with a 6cm tear in his hamstring and still cannot believe he was able to endure that contest.
“That was silly of me. I am happy I played because I have got a flag. But how limited I felt in the ‘granny’ versus tonight … I wasn’t aware of the full extent (of the damage) but thankfully Aaron Naughton didn’t run me around too much and just went down the line and thankfully the boys ran away with the game.”
In another turbulent off-season for the club May’s best-and-fairest night remarks about a wasted year were another unwelcome distraction.
He had attempted to channel his frustration to the fans as he told them: “We lose to Collingwood, and they go on to win the flag, and it f***ing hurts. Because we’re a better team than them, we should have smoked them. Our team’s so much better than those guys. We should have been out there but we weren’t.”
On Thursday night he said he never believed that interview would see the light of day, adamant he never meant to disrespect the Pies players or their irate fanbase.
“I could have chosen my words a lot better and in no way did I mean to offend Collingwood,” he said.
“What I was trying to say is I believed in our team and I believe we had the talent in this coaching structure and Collingwood, I believe we’re on par with them.
“We beat them during the year, but they won the critical contests. So I was trying to say we need to get a little tougher in those big critical moments.
We win a lot of games, we get ourselves in the top four and then we go out in straight sets two years in a row. That was what the frustration was about. I was talking to our players and supporters. “
That speech was only picked up the next day and when it hit social media all hell broke loose for May.
“I wasn’t at a press conference, I looked like an idiot for the next ten weeks but I wasn’t trying to offend them,” he said.
“I didn’t think it was being recorded. I came fifth in the b and f, did a couple of Q and As and let everyone know how I really felt. I didn’t think too much of it and a few boys said, “You let a bit out there”. And then my phone started blowing up the next day when they released the footage. Honestly, they just won the flag. What did they care what I think?
“You just won a premiership, you’re out celebrating having the best offseason of your life. “Who cares what one fullback thinks when he went out in straight sets.”
Demons’ Doomsday trip ticked off after dream week in Adelaide
When Melbourne was first handed its 2024 fixture the Demons believed the AFL had played some sick joke on the club.
The Demons had already drawn the short straw as one of just two teams to take on a South Australian opponent in Gather Round 2.0.
The cruel fixturing punchline was a contest against Port Adelaide only five days before that Crows clash, with both contests on hostile Adelaide Oval ground.
It was footy’s version of the NBL’s dreaded Doomsday double – a road trip that takes in Adelaide and Perth and all the challenges those away clashes entail.
On Friday the Demons will get out of their version of Dodge City with a flight back to Melbourne.
But a nine-day stretch that might have broken them – beginning last Tuesday with more explosive claims from their former doctor Zeeshan Arain – has instead set them up as a premiership force.
Galvanised, brimming with confidence and boasting a 4-1 win loss record after road wins against Adelaide and Port Adelaide.
Perhaps not unbreakable, but certainly feeling like everything thrown at them in their time in the city has galvanised the club for the challenges ahead.
The club turned the Adelaide camp into a chance to chill with families and partners while bookending it with a spectacular pair of victories to leave them entrenched in the top four.
A gritty win over Port Adelaide seizing the moment late, and then last night a highly professional kill of an adrenalised rival.
“We came over here with a mission. It’s a business trip,” said defender Steven May post-match.
“We spent the week here and to take on two Adelaide powerhouses and get the two wins is exactly what we wanted.”
Adelaide were again carrying the hopes of a state after last year’s stunning victory over Carlton to kick off the inaugural Gather Round
Tougher and harder than Melbourne – with an injured Clayton Oliver noticeably fumbly and the forward line MIA – the Crows boasted 12 more inside 50s and eight more clearances to hold a five-point quarter time lead.
Simon Goodwin’s mob just got to work through Bailey Fritsch’s three-goal third-term cameo and a superbly disciplined backline to take care of business.
Even when the Crows dragged a 33-point margin back to within 13 points in the final moments it was the stars in Max Gawn and Christian Petracca taking strong contested marks to ice the clock.
The single negative was yet another Kysaiah Pickett high bump that will surely see him suspended for the third time in 13 months.
Pickett had only just kicked a flashing goal to extend Melbourne’s advantage as he returned to the state where uncle Byron hosted him some of his teens.
He had told this masthead a fortnight ago that while he could still play tough football, “not taking their head off is the main thing”.
He had jumped to shepherd Soligo but when the ball flew past him out went his outstretched right forearm to clip the Adelaide midfielder.
It wasn’t savage like his Bailey Smith hit but like the Patrick Cripps semi-final suspension it was surely hard enough for a one-week suspension that will see him miss against Brisbane.
He might have been in trouble anyway but new AFL rule changes after the Angus Brayshaw-Brayden Maynard incident state when a player attempts to smother and leaves the ground, any contact with the head must be careless.
In other words, a reportable incident.
Kosi, time to stop playing the hard man and concentrate on maximising football gifts few others possess.
Petracca continued his elite start to the season but his glorious left-foot snap for a first-term goal came with bonus coaching notes for Goodwin to boot.
It was set up by a full-length diving smother from Tom Sparrow on Patrick Parnell that spoke of the Demons’ desperate desire to pressure and chase.
When Trent Rivers spoiled at half back five teammates raced to high-five him as the Demons celebrated even the most mundane defensive action as something to cherish.
But it was Steven May’s capacity to play through the pain of three broken ribs which will inspire his teammates and coaching staff.
May and Taylor Walker squared off in an old fashioned match-up of AFL heavyweights that mixed a sense of old-fashioned brutality.
Three times May rose to intercept mark in the first time as Walker tested those ribs, the Demon premiership star visibly wincing as he slowly found his way to his feet after winning one of those tests of strength.
By game’s end Oliver and May would have been sore and sorry and yet this Demons side has seven days to ease sore bodies before that Lions clash.
Sterner tests will come deep in September for the Demons and yet this might be a week they look back on that built the foundation for their season of redemption.
CROWS 2.5 3.8 6.9 8.15 (63)
DEMONS 2.0 6.7 10.13 10.18 (78)
PHELAN’S BEST CROWS: Laird, Crouch, Dawson, Smith, Soligo, Keane. DEMONS: Petracca, Gawn, Viney, May, McVee, Sparrow.
GOALS CROWS: Fogarty 2, Walker, Rankine, Laird, Dawson, Keays. DEMONS: Fritsch 3, van Rooyen 2, Pickett 2, Petty, Petracca, Chandler.
INJURIES CROWS: Nil. DEMONS: Nil.
UMPIRES Meredith, Williamson, Fleer, Rodger.
48,020 at ADELAIDE OVAL
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JASON PHELAN’S VOTES
3 Petracca (Mel)
2 Gawn (Mel)
1 Laird (Adel)
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