Jake Melksham needs surgery after restaurant fight with Steven May

The fallout from the restaurant scuffle between two Melbourne stars continues, with one going under the knife for surgery.

Melksham underwent hand surgery. Pic: Michael Klein

The ugly fallout from Steven May and Jake Melksham’s fight on Sunday night inside a Melbourne restaurant has continued, with Melksham requiring surgery on his hand.

The Demons confirmed on Wednesday Melksham had undergone surgery to clean up an infection in his hand that had occurred as a result of Sunday’s altercation at Entrecote restaurant.

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May was handed a one-game suspension by the club after he was drinking while under the league’s concussion protocols.

Demons football boss Alan Richardson said it was “disappointing” Melksham would not be available for selection this weekend due to the injury.

“What is more disappointing is that the injury keeping him out of the frame for selection is a result of the altercation Jake was involved in on Sunday evening,” Richardson said in a statement.

“As a footy club we are deeply embarrassed by the events of Sunday and Jake and Steven understand that they have let our club, their teammates and our members down. I want to make it very clear that as a club, we do not condone violence of any manner, and the fact that our players allowed any disagreement to escalate to a physical level is completely unacceptable.

“As was communicated yesterday, as a result of their actions we have directed both Jake and Steven to undertake community service through our club community partners so that they can better understand their impact and responsibility as role models within the community.“

Steven May has been suspended for one game. (Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The Herald Sun reported May told Melksham: “If you had have played in the granny (grand final) we would have lost.”

The publication also reports Melksham then “floored” May with a punch.

Melksham was an emergency in last year’s Grand Final, which Melbourne won by 74 points over the Western Bulldogs.

Entrecote claims May and Melksham broke the venue’s reception desk during the altercation.

The restaurant told foxfooty.com.au the incident was “far from a scuffle”, taking aim at the “weak apology” of the Dees that amounted to a ‘boys will be boys” excuse.

Earlier, the venue posted on its Instagram story: “BUT STILL NO APOLOGY TO MY STAFF OR THE RESTAURANT … disgraceful effort @stevenmay @melbournefc.”

The page later shared a post which read: “Thanks for your lukewarm apology that is tantamount to ‘boys will be boys’.”

Melksham reportedly floored May. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

In a video on Melbourne’s club website, May apologised for his behaviour.

“Just extremely disappointed. I know I’ve let a lot of people down, especially myself and the footy club, through uncharacteristic actions,” he said.

“I’ve done a lot of work to try and build respect and trust at the footy club, and I’m disappointed these actions don’t reflect that.

“Just a bad mistake, a bad error of judgement, unfortunately has consequences.”

May said “it’s all about actions and what I do going forward” and he was “really apologetic” to Demon fans.

The 30-year-old said there were no hard feelings between he and Melksham despite their altercation.

“We’re really good mates, we have a lot of love for each other. Sometimes guys can get a little bit competitive with the banter and go a little bit overboard,” May said.

“We certainly made an error of judgement in that time.

“We certainly didn’t mean for any of this to come back on the footy club.

“We’ve told our teammates we’re all fine – don’t feel like you have to pick sides or anything because we’re still good friends. “It was just a silly decision that we made and deeply regret already.”