AFL 2021: Steven May on early-career struggles, stopping the best forwards and the Demons’ resurgence
Melbourne is no longer the laughing stock of the AFL. Jay Clark reveals the miserly defensive stats behind the Dees’ remarkable resurgence.
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Steven May seems born for finals.
Tough, ruthless and aggressive, May always defends like his life depends on it.
But due largely to the AFL system which sent him to an expansion club on the day he was drafted to Gold Coast as a priority selection, in 156 senior games, the superstar full-back has never experienced football on the biggest stage.
And where Tom Lynch — who left Gold Coast at the same time May did at the end of 2018 — has helped spearhead the Tigers to back-to back premierships over the past two years, May has endured a much bumpier ride.
That is, until now.
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Over the past two months, May has become the defensive linchpin in the best back defensive combination in the competition and arguably the No.1 stopper in the game as unbeaten Melbourne chalked up their ninth-straight win of the season over Carlton on Sunday at the MCG.
And every win Melbourne has ticked-off this season has brought the unflinching backman one step closer to something he has desperately wanted over 10-and-a-half seasons in the AFL.
Even more encouraging, May has no doubt the Demons are building a brand and a game style that can not only help book them a top spot in September, but then stand up when the intensity rises and the games become cut-throat.
May, 29, said what Melbourne is building under Simon Goodwin “feels pretty special”.
“Our best is as good as anyone in the competition at the moment, and I feel like even when we are off, we are still not that bad - we can work our way back into the match,” May said.
“So having a team with a really strong defence is at the forefront of our minds and I really want to play finals. We have higher ambitions too because want to finish top-four as well and compete for a flag.
“But personally, I have had a lot of losses in my career and we are taking each week as it comes and next week I have got ‘Tex’ Walker and that doesn’t get any easier. They’re all huge jobs.
“But I would really love to play in September this year, and you see teams like Richmond and think ‘Geez they’re fast and they’re hard to play against’, but their back-six is as good as any.
“That is what we are trying to build, and what we want to be known for, too.”
So what has changed from the past two seasons when Melbourne bombed out in 2019 finishing second-last above only the Suns and then last year when costly losses to Fremantle and Sydney sent their former president Glen Bartlett on a rant about Melbourne jumpers in Wheaties packets?
Clearly, the excellent form of Tom McDonald, Ed Langdon, May and Lever, the chemistry between Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca, and the growth of Luke Jackson and Kysaiah Pickett are huge factors in the Melbourne resurgence.
But May credits Goodwin’s coaching staff, too.
“I was talking to ‘Crippa’ (Patrick Cripps) after the game and then ‘Bettsy’ (Eddie Betts) and he said ‘What’s going on here, where has this come from?’” May said.
“We have become more consistent and I think we have more clarity on the whole game plan, and we are executing it every week and I think that is what happens is when you keep getting wins.
“You start believing in it more and more, but the reality is we haven’t achieved anything yet.”
It hasn’t come without challenges in red and blue for May, who by his own admission made a shaky start at Melbourne rocking up out of shape and then was publicly scolded for having a beer with mates while out with a hamstring injury.
The public scrutiny was fierce at the time, and May owned up to his mistakes, but he has since paid the club back handsomely over the past two seasons, in particular.
At the halfway point of the season, May seems a certainty for his first All-Australian gurensey and has become an important leader alongside Jake Lever in the back half.
According to Champion Data, May has neutralised 53 per cent of his defensive one-on-one contests this season - the second-highest percentage of the top 25-players to have defended a contest.
Indeed, the tide of his whole football career has turned in 2021.
“I feel like after I made the decision to leave (the Suns) everything was going wrong for me,” he said.
“That is through my own fault and other reasons as well, but last year I felt like I got my body in a good position (to perform) and started to jell with the team and understand how I play and how they play.
“We missed out on finals (last year) but I think our time in the hub brought us closer and the boys started to see how passionate I am about the team.
“It is hard to come in to a new team and say I love this club like I have been at it for 10 years, but I am competitor and that came out pretty soon.”
Behind the scenes, that competitive edge which has been a cornerstone of Melbourne’s recruiting philosophy since Paul Roos helped get the club off its knees is what continues to keep the Dees sharp this season.
Adelaide Crows await on Saturday night followed by a tougher test against Western Bulldogs in a blockbuster Friday night contest the week after.
For a club that has the longest premiership drought in the game, complacency doesn’t feel like it is a huge threat right now.
“We have worked really hard as a club to build a group of competitors that want to win and want to be competitive every time they take the field,” coach Goodwin said.
“Whether that is through recruiting or list management or the way we train.”
But it is not win at all costs. Not by the way cult figure Pickett immediately told umpires that another one of his miraculous snapped goals had been touched in the last term, and considering May’s views on his injured opponent Harry McKay on Sunday.
McKay, who is leading the Coleman Medal as the league’s top goal kicker, was hobbled by a shoulder problem after landing heavily on it in an early marking contest on the wing.
May said there was no temptation to target McKay’s injury after he hurt it.
Not that McKay was honest about what was going on in his brief chat with May about the pains in his right shoulder.
“It is not part of the game to be targeting someone when they have an injury,” May said.
“To his credit, I asked him (McKay) what’s wrong with him and I think he said he had a sore ankle.
“I could tell there was something not right but I don’t know, I put myself in his shoes and if that was me I think it is a bit cheap.
“It is not in the spirit of the game.
“But his shoulder looked alright to be honest. He was still taking some marks out in front.
“He is a big long man, he is quick, and Carlton target him 90 per cent of the time, so it is hard.
“You might win three or four or five contests, but guess what, the next one is coming to him. He is a star of the comp already but I think he is only going to get better.”
May said Melbourne built-up the contest on gameday as a battle of Melbourne’s high-pressure team defence versus the Blues’ scoring power.
And Melbourne kept the Blues to their equal-lowest score of the season even though May was filthy McKay bravely notched a couple of late ones on him.
“We wanted to keep them to 60 (points),” May said.
“We spoke pre-game, and it is no secret, we have a pretty good defence going. It is the whole team defence.
“But Carlton has a really good offence, so it was strength versus strength, and even in wet conditions they kept playing on and kept playing fast.
“Thankfully our forwards and mids were able to put some pressure on and got some holding the balls (free kicks) and that certainly helped us a bit down back.”
May, too, suffered a nasty injury when he was accidentally whacked by Geelong great Tom Hawkins in Round 4, fracturing his cheekbone and slicing open his face under his right eye.
He missed only one week but returned the following round to take on his mate Lynch in the significant win over the reigning premier.
May revealed that he was still struggling with his vision against Richmond.
“In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have played the next couple of weeks,” May said.
“I really wanted to play against ‘Lynchy’ in the ANZAC eve game, so I had to make myself available for that one.
“(My eye) was closed for a week, and you know when you wake up from a sleep and you can’t open your eyes to the light, well imagine running around on the MCG under lights at night.
“So it (vision) was just a bit blurry, but it is coming good.”
What he is crystal clear on is his faith in Goodwin after starting the year out as the most under pressure coach in the game. Now, he looks like coach of the year, or certainly right up there.
“He invests so much into the team, and each individual, and into the game plan, and is always trying to find even a one per cent way for us to get better,” he said.
“The season hadn’t even started and he was under heaps of pressure and I was thinking ‘this sucks’, but it was the reality.
“If we don’t win it was going to happen, but I’m just so happy for him, seeing him with a smile on his face, even if it doesn’t come until the end of the game and seeing him walk off in front of the mcc with it.
“He is just loving it and is loving the team we are building right now. He loves that our effort is unwavering.
“He is trying to stick to his guns and what he believes in, and I think that is what makes it easy to play for him.”
HOW T-MAC’S DIET IS FEEDING THE SUCCESS AT DEES
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has lauded Tom McDonald for the remarkable career turnaround which has helped transform the unbeaten Demons into a genuine premiership heavyweight this season.
The key forward who was unwanted by rivals in last year’s trade period was outstanding again snagging three goals in the 26-point win over Carlton at the MCG on Sunday.
It was the Demons’ first look at a new forward combination with Sam Weideman and Ben Brown going goalless in their first clash paired-up together alongside McDonald in the red and blue.
But Melbourne produced one of its best defensive performances of the year restricting the injury-hit Carlton to only 68 points while the red-hot McDonald was enormous in attack.
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It leaves the Demons in top spot on the ladder facing Adelaide Crows on Saturday night before a mouth-watering clash against fellow flag fancy Western Bulldogs on Friday week.
Goodwin said McDonald, who has turned to a meat heavy-diet which includes eating up to 4kg of red and white meat a week, set the tone for the whole team to follow with his competitiveness and attack on the ball.
“Incredibly proud of Tom and the work that he has put in to get himself in this position and to be playing the way he is playing,” Goodwin said.
“He typifies a bit about the team at the moment because he is playing the same way every week and he is getting his rewards.
“He is mobile, he competes hard and that is what we want to see from the big fella but I’m incredibly proud of the work he has put in and how he has turned things around.”
Goodwin hailed the Demons’ efforts over the first nine rounds of the season after two years of missing the finals which put the spotlight on the senior coach’s future at the start of the year.
“It is a brilliant platform that we have clearly laid,” Goodwin said.
“And (it is) just great for the work that the people have put in and the reward for our players and their buy-in to where they’re trying to get their game to.”
Goodwin said McDonald’s meat-heavy diet was obviously working as the jet goal kicker had trimmed down significantly to help bolster his running power in 2021.
“It was really clear for Tom at the end of last year he needed to lose some weight,” Goodwin said.
“He needed to drop five or six kilograms and get himself in peak condition and that is what he has been able to do.”
But the pressure on spots in the forward half will remain white-hot as ruckman-forward Luke Jackson attempts to return from a finger injury in the next fortnight.
While Brown and the out-of-contract Weideman did not have a major impact in the win on Sunday, Goodwin said it would “take time (to build) that cohesion”.
“They didn’t hit the scoreboard, but I felt they both competed really strongly and it allowed Tommy to do his thing,” he said.
“That will take time and it is like a few years ago we were talking about (Steven) May and (Jake) lever, their cohesion in the back half.”
DEES DO IT AGAIN AS DOUBLE BLOW DERAILS BLUES
Melbourne has outlasted a gallant but injury-hit Carlton to keep their undefeated season alive with a 26-point win.
The Blues suffered two injury blows early in the game with David Cuningham hurting his knee and Harry McKay his shoulder in the first quarter.
The Blues were brave throughout the first half with their tacking pressure, but the Demons experienced midfield brigade of Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and Max Gawn began to assert their dominance in the second quarter.
Oliver (29 disposals) finished the game with seven clearances and Petracca (27 touches) had eight inside 50s and eight clearances, while Gawn dominated the ruck battle with Marc Pittonet, easily winning the hit-outs 44 to 23.
When Tom McDonald goaled on the run for his second in a row and third major of the first half the Demons looked to be pulling away, but a Liam Stocker snap from 45m kept the Blues within 13 points at half time.
The Demons upped the pressure as the heavens opened after the main break and piled on three straight goals to start the second half.
A sore Harry McKay then kicked back-to-back goals to keep the Blues in touch, but a four-goal to two third term gave the Dees a comfortable 26-point lead at the final change.
Unlike last week’s final quarter fade out where they gave up six final quarter goals, the Blues stuck around to square the fourth quarter but the game petered out late as the Demons recorded their ninth straight win.
BLUES DOWN EARLY
Carlton suffered two early injury blows with Cuningham going down with a knee in the opening minutes of the game.
He was subbed out for Michael Gibbons at the 12th minute mark and moments later big forward McKay went down to the rooms after a knock to the shoulder.
McKay re-emerged late in the first quarter but looked ginger and failed to have much of an impact in the first half.
The Coleman medal favourite came to life in the third quarter with two of his three goals but he was held to just eight touches by Steven May.
PROMISING RETURN
Young Dees forward Sam Weideman (13 disposals) made a promising return to footy in his first game for the year.
The 23-year-old spent time in the ruck and took a couple of big contested marks, but was unable to hit the scoreboard, missing his only set shot.
Christian Salem (29 disposals) was again dominant across halfback with three rebound 50s and the equal most disposals for the Demons.
BETTS SPECIAL DENIED
It took a score review and a spectacular basketball-style rejection from Ed Langdon to deny an Eddie Betts special from deep in the forward pocket.
The Blues livewire Eddie looked to have nailed a second freakish goal in the first half when he snapped from next to the point post, but Langdon leapt high to tip it over the line.
Betts was lively up forward during the first half, and pounced on an errant handball from Salem to put the Blues in front early in the first term, but failed to capitalise and missed several chances to finish with one goal and three behinds for the match.
HARRY’S ROUGH FORTNIGHT
Carlton coach David Teague has revealed key forward Harry McKay has been playing through a shoulder injury for at least the past fortnight.
McKay came from the ground early in the first quarter after suffering a knock to his right shoulder in the Blues 26-point loss to Melbourne on Sunday.
The Coleman Medal favourite went down to the rooms but re-emerged late in the first term and bravely played out the game.
McKay looked ginger and struggled to compete one-on-one against Steven May but came to life in the third quarter with two of his three goals.
Teague said McKay had been battling the shoulder issue for the past few weeks.
“He’s had that for a couple of weeks so hopefully it will continue to get better,” Teague said after the game.
“He said he felt better going into this game than last week so hopefully it will get better again.”
In a double blow for the Blues, David Cuningham looks set for an extended stint on the sidelines after going down in the opening minutes with a knee injury. Cuningham will be assessed to determine if he suffered an ACL injury.
Teague didn’t shed too much light on the extent of the damage after the game but said it was a “serious knee injury”.
“We’ll find out (on Monday) exactly what it is but, yeah, it’s really disappointing,” he said.
Meanwhile, star midfielder Patrick Cripps shrugged off any concerns about the seriousness of his back injury to rack up 27 touches and seven clearances.
Reports surfaced during the week that Cripps was playing through a fractured back, but the concerns were quickly dismissed by Teague and the Blues as a prior back injury that had fully healed.
Teague said that Cripps’ performance on Sunday was far “better than the way (he) handled the media conference” during the week.
“It was probably one of my worst press conferences,” he said.
“I thought the injury was in the past, it hampered him in rounds two and three so when it got brought up I was probably a bit frustrated, and wasn’t as honest and direct as I could have been.
“I knew the full extent (of the injury). The message I wanted to get across is he’s fine now and I probably could have been clearer.
“I thought his game was good, he had about 10 tackles, tough inside, competed hard, he’s been a great player for us for a long time and today he was tough again and put his head over the ball.”
Teague said Sunday’s loss to the undefeated Demons was one of their more disappointing games for the year as they hadn’t played as well as some of their other similar losses.
SCOREBOARD
MELBOURNE DEMONS 4.3 8.6 12.9 13.16 (94)
def
CARLTON BLUES 3.2 6.5 8.7 10.8 (68)
GOALS
Demons: Fritsch 3, McDonald 3, Neal-Bullen 2, Hunt, Langdon, Oliver, Pickett, Spargo. Blues: McKay 3, Betts, Casboult, Gibbons, Murphy, Owies, Pittonet, Stocker
JACK PAYNTER’S BEST
Demons: Oliver, Salem, Petracca, Gawn, Brayshaw, Langdon
Blues: Walsh, Cripps, Curnow, Saad
JACK PAYNTER’S VOTES
3 — Clayton Oliver (Mel)
2 — Christian Salem (Mel)
1 — Sam Walsh (Carl)
INJURIES
Demons: Nil
Blues: Cuningham (knee), McKay (shoulder)
Umpires: Donlon, Meredith, Dore.
Venue: MCG
Crowd: 38,581
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