Why King wants the AFL to stamp out Steven May

Kane Cornes and David King have debated the Steven May bump.

King initially said on Fox Footy that the Demons veteran "picked off" Carlton's Francis Evans and should be suspended for six weeks.

The pair further discussed the incident on Monday morning with King standing by his assessment.

“I think the AFL should come down seriously hard on this,” King said on SEN’s Fireball.

“They won’t, they’ll offer three (weeks) as they’ve always done, and that’s why we keep having these conversations.”

Cornes: “Why do you think this is one of the worst things you’ve seen and six weeks is the appropriate sanction?”

King: “Because every time we have these discussions the player who is off to the Tribunal to fight the case has laid ‘the perfect’ bump in to the face of the player we’re trying to protect.

“They’re hitting with the point of the shoulder - miraculously accidentally - every time.”

Cornes: “You think he did that deliberately?”

King: “I can show you the last six we’ve argued about and they’ve hit them in the same spot every time, to the point where this bloke’s tooth exploded out of his mouth.

“I think Steven May has been in that position a lot, coming forward of the ball like that. I give these guys credit for so many things they do that are brilliant on the footy field, in tight spaces with fractions of a second to work in.

“I can’t move past all of that when these sorts of acts happen.

“I think you either stamp it out or you don’t. We’ve got to get it out of the game.”

Cornes: “We’re talking not even milliseconds here.

“He’s tried to lower his arms, go limp…”

King: “The game now is asking you to assess that earlier. That’s what I think the game is asking you to do.

“Players’ careers are being finished early and people forget about this when they’re discussing the lives of young men. They’re seriously impacted for 60 years.

“This is not popular, I understand that. People hate me talking like this.”

Cornes: “I’m clearly taking that seriously, my view is that unfortunately there is going to be these types of accidents in the game. You’re never going to get rid of all of them.

“For Steven, the duty of care that I think he showed in that moment was really reasonable. I thought he went limp, he put his arms down to the side, didn’t raise a forearm, didn’t turn to bump.

“He’s almost tried to avoid the contact. He did it reasonably.”

King: “I see it differently. He’s a beast, he’s a big frame, and when he turns and hits you with the point of his shoulder, there’s going to be serious damage at that speed.

“The game is now asking you to be reasonable in that manner. If you’re coming in at a reckless speed and cannot control the contact and you hit the head, then you pay a price.

“It’s the running the red light theory. You can get away with it 100 times but there’s a time when you get done.”

May will find himself sidelined for at least multiple weeks after his hit on Evans was sent directly to the Tribunal.

The incident occurred as a stray ball inside 50 fell between the two players, with both taking a direct line of attack on the football. As the ball bounced back into the path of Evans, May found himself second to the contest.

Failing to slow in his attack, May's shoulder connected directly with the head of the Carlton forward. Evans, who lost a tooth in the collision, was substituted from the game with concussion, blood streaming from his face.

The MRO has ruled that the action was careless, with severe impact and high contact, meaning the defender is facing a minimum of a three-week suspension.

Immediately following the contest in Carlton’s forward half, Fox Footy’s Jason Dunstall stated that although May had a clear endeavour to attack the football, his inability to adjust late on may significantly cost him.

“He didn’t lift the arm, he was desperate to go for the ball, he put the hands down from the ball,” Dunstall said.

“These days, you probably have to step out of the way.”

Speaking post-game, Fox Footy presenters Jack Riewoldt and David King agreed that the hit – given the outcome and the outcome-based rulings of the MRO across recent weeks – could see the defender ruled out with suspension for an extended period of time.

“I think it’s unfortunate Steven May’s collected him high, but if you come in with that sort of velocity there … the collision was inevitable,” Riewoldt said post game.

“Steven May has a duty of care when Francis Evans has the ball there. For me, this will go to the Tribunal — and it’s how hard, or how big a penalty they want to give Steven May.

“If they rank it severe, it could be anywhere from four to five weeks.”

“My view is, you’ve got to come at it from the victim’s point of view. What are we asking Evans to do?” King said.

“He’s entitled to go at the ball in that fashion, and the game is supposed to protect him - that’s what we’ve been preaching.

“I don’t have any empathy (for May) really in this instance, I think he knew he was going to make contact.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the last time we see Steven May this season.”

Fox Footy’s David Zita also questioned the intention of Steven May, citing that the manner of his attack on the football is likely to see him sent directly to the Tribunal.

“This is a really interesting test case for Michael Christian, in a year full of them,” Zita said.

“If he has elected to bump, then it’s gone. That’s done. But even if he hasn’t ‘elected’ to bump, if he is contesting the ball, is it reasonable for him to contest the ball in that way? That’s what the MRO’s going to have to weigh up.

“It might be a sleepless night (for Michael Christian). If he hasn’t (elected to bump), he’s missing at least three weeks and potentially more, depending on what the AFL wants to try and push for at the Tribunal.

“Once it is reportable, then it’s automatically three weeks at least because of the outcome with Francis Evans.

“What we’ve learnt this season, and in seasons past, is that particular way to approach a contest is not really something permitted in the rules or by the MRO.”

Regardless of the directive handed down by the MRO, Steven May will be ruled out of the Demons' Round 20 clash with St Kilda due to a concussion suffered in the latter stages of their loss to the Blues.