Melbourne defender Steven May will miss the next three matches for a controversial collision with Carlton’s Francis Evans, after failing to beat a rough conduct charge at the AFL Tribunal on Wednesday night.
May faced the tribunal for a high-speed, front-on collision with Evans last week– which left the Blues player concussed, and with a bloodied nose and missing tooth.
Steven May collects Francis Evans.
AFL match review officer Michael Christian assessed the incident as careless conduct, with severe impact and high contact and the AFL sought a three-match suspension penalty.
May pleaded not guilty to the charges and agreed to provide evidence during the tribunal hearing, maintaining he thought he would get to the ball before Evans.
May’s representative Adrian Anderson reviewed the footage and asked May why he had an expression of disbelief after the collision.
“Just can’t believe I didn’t take possession,” May said. “I thought I did everything right, so I’m just a bit shocked.”
Melbourne compared the incident to Fremantle captain Alex Pearce – who successfully challenged a three-game suspension earlier this year and was cleared of rough conduct. The Dockers skipper clashed in a marking contest with Port Adelaide’s Darcy Byrne-Jones, who was left concussed.
Pearce’s case differed from May’s in that it was an aerial collision in a marking contest, but there were similarities in how Pearce arrived second to the ball and took his eyes off it at the last second to brace for contact.
The tribunal also discussed the case involving North Melbourne’s Jackson Archer in March. The tribunal ruled the North Melbourne defender “slowed too little and too late” and the rough conduct charge was sustained. However, May’s advocate Adrian Anderson argues this case was different and May expected to get to the ball first.
AFL barrister Andrew Woods acknowledged that these circumstances were “not easy things for a player to assess”, and conceded that the collision between May and Evans was not a bump.
However, Woods maintained May could have taken reasonable action to avoid the clash. He argued May should have changed his momentum and trajectory to avoid the collision with Evans and noted a reasonable player would understand a ball can bounce unpredictably.
“Mr May’s conduct was a breach of a duty of care that he owed Evans,” Woods said.
Melbourne’s defence countered and said they fundamentally disagreed with the AFL’s position that Evans was going to get to the ball first.
Steven May will miss the next three games. Credit: AFL Photos
Anderson said May did not have enough time to change his momentum and argued his attempts to win the ball were “entirely realistic”. He also noted May was contesting the ball, did not move off line and showed attempts to slow down, even though it was too late.
The tribunal deliberated for over 90 minutes and ultimately handed down a three-game suspension – a demonstration of the league’s crackdown on concerning head knocks.
The tribunal concluded May could and should have realised that Evans would have reached the ball first.
“He [May] ran through Evans at high speed,” tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson said.
“We found that May engaged in rough conduct that was unreasonable in the circumstances,” he continued
May will miss the next three games, however the Demon suffered a concussion of his own during the Carlton match, when Tom De Koning accidentally kneed him in the head during a last-quarter marking contest, so he was set to miss Sunday’s match against St Kilda regardless.