Star defender Steven May told by Melbourne to look for another club

Melbourne have told All-Australian defender Steven May to look for another club.

The 33-year-old started his career at Gold Coast in 2011 and joined Melbourne ahead of the 2019 season.

He is a two-time All-Australian and was obviously a key plank of the club’s drought-breaking 2021 premiership campaign.

But May has a reputation for being combustible and has had some high-profile spats with teammates, including a headline-making exchange with captain Max Gawn this year.

May has a year left on his existing contract but has been told that the Demons — with new coach Steven King in charge — are keen to play youth in 2026.

May managed 16 games this season, missing multiple matches due to injury and suspension.

At the end of the season, he was criticised for poor body language in the aftermath of Melbourne’s final game against Collingwood.

The Demons lost that match by just six points, vision emerged of May chatting away while Gawn addressed the team.

Gawn was sitting in the back row of the rooms speaking to his teammates, while May was appearing to chat to youngster Blake Howes.

“Is that unusual for a captain who is addressing the team for the last time after a game to have one of your leaders just sitting there chatting away with (Blake Howes) as he is? To me, that was a really poor look,” Caroline Wilson said on The Agenda Setters.

“I thought that was poor, speaking over Max Gawn.”

In June this year, it emerged that players had voiced concern about May, believing he wasn’t held to the same account as others for his on-field actions and off-field behaviour.

May was also involved in an infamous dust-up with teammate Jack Melksham during the 2022 season

“This is after we know that players in June went to the coach and made the point that in a year where it was meant to be all about love and all about looking after each other, they felt that Steven May was not being held to account for some of his behavioural stuff with teammates that they were being held to,” Wilson said.

“We know that. It’s been reported. We know that there was frustration there. We know that May got suspended a few weeks ago. Very frustrating for a lot of his teammates.

“I don’t want to go back into the past, but it was in 2022, after that incredible run of 10 wins following the flag, that it all fell apart. And it didn’t all fall apart because of a punch-up outside Entrecote Restaurant in Prahran. But the timing was appalling, and the comments that were made that led to the punch-up were pretty unimpressive.”

In July, May was banned for three games following a high-speed collision with Carlton’s Francis Evans that left the Blues forward with concussion, a broken nose and a missing tooth.

Melbourne appealed the decision, but failed.