May "will never play for Demons again" they owe him nothing

Melbourne and Steven King owe Steven May nothing and he is almost certainly never playing for the club again.

Amid the latest allegations to be levelled against the 34-year-old, Kane Cornes doubled down on his view last Monday that May's future is looking bleak with his name and his club once again splashed across the front pages of the country’s media.

May was absent from training this week and has been granted “time to navigate his personal situation” after police visited his home last week in response to “reports of threatening behaviour”.

This off the back of the two-time All-Australian being charged by police in October last year over a brawl that occurred in Sorrento in December 2024 but has always maintained his innocence. The latest allegations has King and Cornes believing his time at Melbourne is up.

“I read the prosecutors claims on Steven May and Dion Prestia and their involvement in the Sorrento blue,” David King said on SEN’s Fireball. “It’s not great reading, clearly they will fight these allegations the boys but their version is going to be drastically different.

“May and Prestia say they weren’t there when this all broke, the counter view is they were. It’s one thing to make the mistake and a serious mistake, it’s another to go to your club and lie.

“If that is to be the case, then that is it. You have to put your hand up when you have transgressed.

“Steven King owes this guy nothing. It is going to be a fascinating watch from here on in. Maybe he is gone before that. But it doesn’t read well.”

Cornes, who on Monday questioned when is a player too much trouble, is emphatic when it comes to May’s future. He is done with the Demons.

“This is only one of the dramas he is involved in,” he said. “I said this on Monday, when is he too much trouble? That point is now if it wasn’t previous to this.

“He is front page again. He will never play again for Melbourne I would be certain. It’s how they go about the exit now and do what’s best for the Melbourne Football Club.

“This is a build up of events when a player becomes too much of a distraction and this is a club that wants to start afresh.

“You get more grace when you’re a gun, you get extra chances than you do when you’re 34.”

May is not the only name to be dragged into the allegations in Sorrento, Richmond’s Dion Prestia is also facing similar charges.

Twelve months on from the club facing a similar scenario with Noah Balta, King believes it’s time for the AFL to intervene more and set some clear guidelines.

“We aren’t privy to his conversations but there’s a lot to play out there,” King said. “What do the AFL do?

“It’s clearly bringing the game into disrepute and its all allegations at this point. We need a hard and fast rule. Stand down doesn’t always work but we need set penalties and guidelines in these cases. Balta was a mess, a debacle.”