The AFL will investigate the fight at Melbourne star restaurant Steven May with his teammate Jake Melksham, which has embarrassed current prime ministers.
Key points:
- Jake Melksham and Steven May fought in and out of Prahran Entrecote on Sunday night
- Gillon McLachlan said it was a “bad thing” for the club
- Melbourne has lost two in a row, but said his values were more important than remembering May for the Queen’s birthday clash with Collingwood.
Melksham required surgery on an infected hand injured in the fight, while May was suspended for the Queen’s birthday overproduction against Collingwood after the couple got into a fight inside and outside the Prahran Entrecote restaurant on Sunday night.
“The AFL confirms that it is investigating the incident between Steven May and Jake Melksham that happened on Sunday evening,” the AFL said in a statement.
“No matter what the situation or the circumstances, violence is never the answer.
“As professional footballers, as people, we expect better and although the club has taken the matter very seriously, the AFL is conducting its own investigation.”
The AFL’s decision came on the same day that CEO Gillon McLachlan condemned the incident.
“It’s a poor thing,” McLachlan told a news conference in Hobart.
“Max Gawn, he’s embarrassed, he’s unacceptable. I think Max is one of our great leaders and I agree with him.”
Jake Melksham and Steven May have been longtime teammates in Melbourne. (Getty Images: Quinn Rooney)
Melksham and May had been drinking at dinner with several teammates, when what Captain Gawn described as a “painful joke” became the “horrible act” of a physical fight.
May received a one-club club sanction for drinking while on AFL concussion protocols and apologized Tuesday, while both he and Melksham are due to complete community service.
The fight left Gawn “embarrassed” and “flattened”, while football chief Alan Richardson said the Demons were “deeply embarrassed”.
The Demons lost two on the rebound and could have done so with the services of star defender May, who suffered a concussion in the defeat to Fremantle and was sidelined in the defeat to Sydney against Collingwood.
But Melbourne stressed that his club’s values came before choosing May.
On Wednesday, Gawn admitted that he was disappointed that the other players in the restaurant had not stopped drinking May, but stressed that the money finally stopped with the 30-year-old.
May had said that he and Melksham were still friends, but Gawn was expected to take time for the relationship to be completely saved.
AAP