| Steven May | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 May with Melbourne in July 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Steven May | ||
| Born |
10 January 1992 Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia | ||
| Original team | Southern Districts (NTFL) | ||
| Draft | Priority zone selection, Gold Coast | ||
| Height | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Weight | 102 kg (225 lb) | ||
| Position | Key defender | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2011–2018 | Gold Coast | 123 (21) | |
| 2019–2025 | Melbourne | 128 (3) | |
| Total | 251 (24) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 2013 | Indigenous All-Stars | 1 (0) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2025 season. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Steven May (born 10 January 1992) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Gold Coast Suns and Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He served as the co-captain of Gold Coast in the 2017 and 2018 AFL seasons and was a premiership player for Melbourne in the 2021 season.
Early life and junior football
Steven May was born in Darwin into a family of Indigenous Australian descent (Gunbalanya and Larrakia).[1][2]
May began playing his junior football at Southern Districts Football Club, competing in the Northern Territory Football League. His performances for Southern Districts earned him a scholarship at the AIS in 2008. Later in 2008 he moved to Melbourne to complete his final years of schooling at Melbourne Grammar. A highlight of his while at Melbourne Grammar, was kicking 9 goals against Scotch College. While competing for the Northern Territory at the 2010 AFL Under 18 Championships, he was named at full forward in the under 18 All-Australian team. Following his efforts at the National Championships, the newly formed Gold Coast Football Club signed him as one of their two priority zone selections from the Northern Territory. May would finish the 2010 season for Melbourne Grammar in the Associated Public Schools of Victoria competition with 40 goals from eight games, as well as the best and fairest award. Following graduation, he relocated to the Gold Coast at the end of 2010 to begin his AFL career.[citation needed]
AFL career
May made his AFL debut against Essendon[3] in round six of the 2011 season, playing as a defender. May played nine games in 2011, playing the majority of the time in defence. In 2012, May was again used in defence for the best part of the 2012 AFL season until round 21 against Hawthorn where he had a breakout game, being moved forward for the game. In the game, he kicked three goals, took 12 marks in an impressive display up forward for the Suns.
In a 2014 match against the Sydney Swans, May manned-up on two-time Coleman Medallist Lance Franklin, and did it well, limiting him to only three goals.[4] On 16 April 2016, May knocked out Stefan Martin after leaving his feet to deliver a full-body hit after the ball had gone past the two players.[5] As a result, May was suspended for five matches.[6]
May was named a co-captain of the Gold Coast Football Club in December 2016, making him just the sixth Indigenous captain in VFL/AFL history.[7]
On 24 May 2017, it was announced that he would wear number 67 on his AFL guernsey, rather than his usual 17, for the round 10 Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round game against Melbourne. This was to commemorate the 1967 referendum which allowed Indigenous Australians to be counted with the general population in the census.[8]
During the 2018 AFL trade period, May was traded to Melbourne. Early in his first year at Melbourne, May was impacted by injuries and poor form. However, ever since, his impact and contribution to the Melbourne backline has been outstanding alongside Jake Lever and Adam Tomlinson . By round 7 in 2021, May was averaging 20.2 disposals per match, 16.7 kicks and 6.8 marks. Melbourne remained undefeated and on top of the ladder at that time conceding the fewest points (434) of any team by that point of the season.[citation needed]
May won his first AFL premiership with Melbourne in the 2021 AFL Grand Final, after Melbourne defeated the Western Bulldogs, despite having playing a serious hamstring injury.[9][10]
In June 2022, May was suspended for one match following a public altercation with teammate Jake Melksham and also drinking alcohol while under the concussion protocols.[11][12] Sources at Melbourne commented that the drunken scuffle was the result of Melksham's comments on May's drinking habit.[13][14]
May announced his retirement from the AFL on 1 March 2026 a few days prior to the commencement of the 2026 AFL season.[15]
Statistics
Updated to the end of the 2025 season.[16]
G
|
Goals | K
|
Kicks | D
|
Disposals | T
|
Tackles |
B
|
Behinds | H
|
Handballs | M
|
Marks | ||
#
|
Played in that season's premiership team |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 2011 | Gold Coast | 45 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 76 | 34 | 110 | 34 | 17 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 8.4 | 3.8 | 12.2 | 3.8 | 1.9 | 0 |
| 2012 | Gold Coast | 45 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 64 | 28 | 92 | 41 | 13 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 8.0 | 3.5 | 11.5 | 5.1 | 1.6 | 1 |
| 2013 | Gold Coast | 17 | 17 | 10 | 6 | 113 | 59 | 172 | 57 | 26 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 6.6 | 3.5 | 10.1 | 3.4 | 1.5 | 0 |
| 2014 | Gold Coast | 17 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 200 | 54 | 254 | 73 | 43 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 10.5 | 2.8 | 13.4 | 3.8 | 2.3 | 3 |
| 2015 | Gold Coast | 17 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 171 | 78 | 249 | 76 | 18 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 9.5 | 4.3 | 13.8 | 4.2 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 2016 | Gold Coast | 17 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 177 | 104 | 281 | 110 | 32 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 10.4 | 6.1 | 16.5 | 6.5 | 1.9 | 5 |
| 2017 | Gold Coast | 17/67[17] | 18 | 1 | 2 | 234 | 113 | 347 | 127 | 24 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 13.0 | 6.3 | 19.3 | 7.1 | 1.3 | 2 |
| 2018 | Gold Coast | 17 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 224 | 71 | 295 | 127 | 29 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 13.2 | 4.2 | 17.4 | 7.5 | 1.7 | 1 |
| 2019 | Melbourne | 1 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 104 | 17 | 121 | 30 | 9 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 13.0 | 2.1 | 15.1 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 0 |
| 2020[a] | Melbourne | 1 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 210 | 62 | 272 | 76 | 15 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 12.4 | 3.6 | 16.0 | 4.5 | 0.9 | 4 |
| 2021# | Melbourne | 1 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 339 | 61 | 400 | 125 | 24 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 14.7 | 2.7 | 17.4 | 5.4 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 2022[b] | Melbourne | 1 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 350 | 71 | 421 | 111 | 28 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 15.9 | 3.2 | 19.1 | 5.0 | 1.3 | 0 |
| 2023 | Melbourne | 1 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 321 | 75 | 396 | 125 | 37 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 14.0 | 3.3 | 17.2 | 5.4 | 1.6 | 3 |
| 2024 | Melbourne | 1 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 295 | 52 | 347 | 132 | 18 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 15.5 | 2.7 | 18.3 | 6.9 | 0.9 | 0 |
| 2025 | Melbourne | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 229 | 54 | 283 | 113 | 12 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 14.3 | 3.4 | 17.7 | 7.1 | 0.8 | 0 |
| Career[16] | 251 | 24 | 24 | 3107 | 933 | 4040 | 1357 | 345 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 12.4 | 3.7 | 16.1 | 5.4 | 1.4 | 21 | ||
Notes
- ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- ^ 2022 statistics include one game in which May was substituted out of the game due to injury (round 11) and was replaced by Luke Dunstan.
Honours and achievements
Team
Individual
- 2× All-Australian team: 2021, 2022
- Ron Barassi Snr Memorial Trophy (Melbourne B&F Third Place): 2022
- Sid Anderson Memorial Trophy (Melbourne B&F Runner-Up): 2020
- Gold Coast captain: 2017–2018
- 22under22 team: 2014
- Indigenous All-Stars team: 2013
References
- ^ "Steven May believes Gold Coast is the AFL's leader in improving cultural awareness". Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
- ^ "Suns Announce New Skippers". Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
- ^ Hanlon, Peter (2 May 2011), "Total eclipse: Suns back to reality as Bombers deliver first-quarter blitz", The Sydney Morning Herald
- ^ Steven May on the business of beating Buddy Archived 11 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine, AFL.com.au official website, 9 June 2014
- ^ "Stef Martin knocked out after big hit from Steven May". 16 April 2016. Archived from the original on 17 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- ^ "Steven May handed five-match suspension for hit on Stefan Martin". TheGuardian.com. 19 April 2016.
- ^ Steven May reveals the catalyst behind the leadership growth that has earned him the Suns captaincy
- ^ "Players' number tribute to indigenous breakthrough". Australian Football League. 24 May 2017. Archived from the original on 27 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
- ^ Savage, Nic (26 September 2021). "Hurt AFL star's hidden Grand Final secret". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ Niall, Jake; Cherny, Daniel (26 September 2021). "'Whoa, it's back': May asked medicos not to tell him extent of injury". The Age. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ "AFL leaders Melbourne suspend Steven May after altercation with teammate". The Guardian. 7 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ "'Keep your tongue in your mouth': Demons star who started fight with teammate 'deserved a clip'". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
- ^ "Revealed: The comments to a Melbourne teammate which saw May and Melksham come to blows". Sports Entertainment Network. Archived from the original on 11 June 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
- ^ Niall, Jake; Wu, Andrew; Ryan, Peter (8 June 2022). "New details on Demons' fight – and why Melksham wasn't suspended". The Age. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
- ^ "Premiership Demon announces sudden retirement after recent off-field issues". AFL Media. 2 March 2026.
- ^ a b "Steven May". AFL Tables. Archived from the original on 21 January 2026. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
- ^ "Players' number tribute to indigenous breakthrough". Australian Football League. 24 May 2017. Archived from the original on 27 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
External links
- Steven May's profile on the official website of the Melbourne Football Club
- Steven May's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- 1992 births
- Living people
- Gold Coast Football Club players
- Gold Coast Suns captains
- Melbourne Football Club players
- Melbourne Football Club premiership players
- VFL/AFL premiership players
- All-Australians (AFL)
- Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football
- People educated at Melbourne Grammar School
- Northern Territory Football Club players
- Southern Districts Football Club players
- Australian rules footballers from Darwin, Northern Territory
- Larrakia people
- 21st-century Indigenous Australian people
- 21st-century Australian sportsmen
