Nathan Buckley calls for harsher penalty for Steven May's staging act

Melbourne defender Steven May was fined by the AFL for staging after exaggerating head contact in a tackle during his side’s win over North Melbourne.

However, given the current climate surrounding concussions and his teammate Angus Brayshaw’s recent retirement, Nathan Buckley believes the punishment should have been harsher.

May was fined $1,250 for the act, but the former Collingwood coach believes it should have resulted in a one-game suspension.

“Staging has been a part of the game. I reckon I’ve got two bad ones I can remember. One where I threw myself to the ground in the goal square and I felt terrible,” Buckley told SEN Breakfast.

“I can only imagine how Steven May is feeling right now, but that doesn’t escape the reality of what he chose to do.

“I actually think it’s on the worse level of staging for me because of what this rule is there to do. This rule is there to protect players, protect the head, it’s not there as just a rule of how we want the game to be played, it’s there for the protection of players.

“The fact that a teammate of May’s in Angus Brayshaw has left the game because of concussive effects and they hand out an award at the end of every game in respects to Brayshaw and that would be about courage and playing the game with the right demeanour.

“I think whatever the opposite of that is, I think that’s what Steven May did. I know he wouldn’t feel great about it and in 24 hours it will be gone.

“But I think anyone who accentuates head contact in a tackle and does it so blatantly like that, I think it should be a week.

“It should be elevated beyond a normal staging fine.”

Kane Cornes agrees, calling for the Demons to let May speak publicly this week about the incident.

“I agree with you. This one was different. It wasn’t a normal exaggeration of contact. There was no contact. He’s just made this up. He’s faked that his head has hit the ground,” said Cornes.

“Whereas the normal staging ones, there is still some level of force or a nudge or a push and then you exaggerate the contact.

“This was creating something out of thin air to sucker the umpire in. I think May should speak today. I think Melbourne should put him up because I reckon there was one with Caleb Windsor that wasn’t as blatant as this late in the game where he also did something similar.

“So, if you’ve got a senior player doing something and then a first-year player doing similar, I think it’s important that the club stamps this out and May should speak today and be asked questions about that and I hope Melbourne put him up this week.”