Melbourne defender Steven May spills on hidden Grand Final agony

All-Australian Steven May has confessed to competing in Saturday evening’s historic Grand Final with a “pretty bad” injury.

Steven May (left) played through the pain. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Melbourne Demons defender Steven May has revealed he unknowingly played Saturday’s AFL Grand Final with a “pretty bad” hamstring injury.

The 29-year-old tore his right hamstring in Melbourne’s Preliminary Final victory over Geelong earlier this month, but was still selected for the season finale at Perth’s Optus Stadium.

May finished with 14 disposals and five marks as the Demons secured a triumphant 21.14 (140) to 10.6 (66) victory over the Western Bulldogs to clinch their first premiership in 57 years.

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But speaking to Channel 7 after the win, May confessed to aggravating the hamstring injury in the second quarter. He claimed Melbourne’s fitness staff had not told him about the hamstring tear until after the Grand Final.

Footy legend Brian Taylor asked: “Steve, let us in on the secret, the twinge on the hamstring, we were watching the preliminary final, we all said, ‘Get him off’. How close was it?”

May responded: “Look, to be honest, our doctor Laura came up to me on the way out and said, ‘Do you want to know about your scans?’ She didn‘t tell me. We went off my symptoms.

“For the next two weeks, I felt good. I thought it must be nothing. She just told me it was apparently pretty bad.

“In the second quarter, I went for a ground ball. I thought something is not right. I came off at halftime, I thought, ‘Suck it up for a half, you could be a premiership player, deal with the hammy in the off-season’.

“I’ll probably find out more about it. By the way she told me, it sounds like there is more there than she told me earlier.”

Steven May aggravated his hamstring injury in the second quarter. Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Demons coach Simon Goodwin said May’s injury against the Cats would have sidelined him for several weeks if it had taken place during the regular season.

“He had a reasonable tear to it but the medicos and the fitness staff did an unbelievable job,” Goodwin said.

“He had a scan and there were some results there that weren’t great. We treated it clinically; all his strength was there, he trained fully, he got through all the tests and we were prepared to take that risk, as he was.

“If it was round 14, he’s probably not playing. You would have given him a few weeks just to settle it down a little bit but we haven’t got a few weeks, we had to win today. And he was fit and he was ready.”

May joined Melbourne in 2019 following an eight-year stint with the Gold Coast Suns, but his first season with the Demons did not go to plan.

The backman was hampered by injury throughout the 2019 season as Melbourne finished 17th on the AFL ladder.

The All-Australian admitted he had questioned to decision to switch clubs two years ago.

“I made the decision (to move) a few years ago, I thought I regretted it,” May said.

“I went through a lot of real lows, not a lot of ups. It just makes everything feel worth it … I’m honestly speechless.”

Originally published as Melbourne defender Steven May spills on hidden Grand Final agony