Steven May on Melbourne Demons win over Adelaide Crows, Collingwood Magpies comments

May overcame broken ribs to play and make a telling contribution – particularly early – in the Demons’ commanding 14-point victory over Adelaide on Thursday night’s Gather Round opener to complete back-to-back wins at the Adelaide Oval.

May had the ribs tested in his first contest of the night with opponent Taylor Walker when the Demons star marked and went to ground in pain and later spent time in discussions with the club doctor.

“My ribs, I feel a lot better now after getting a win,” May said of the injury. “The first contest of the day I sort of tested it out and I was thinking, ‘Oh this is going to be a tough night’.”

May described the broken ribs, explaining he had been keen to play but also to avoid being subbed out.

“Yeah, just little fractures, in my couple of ribs, in a relatively nice spot for me in terms of like I can still run and all that sort of stuff.

“I had a pretty rigorous test the other day at training and got through, and I think the adrenaline kicked in, playing Adelaide at home and ended up getting through.

“I was really happy with it … when you make that decision you don’t want to let the team down, that’s my No.1 thing is I don’t want to get subbed out early because I thought I could play and I couldn’t. I was glad I was able to play a role and get the win.

“The elation in the group then and getting two wins, it’s just going to do massive wonders for our season.”

May said the Demons of 2024 were more composed than last year, having learned from their finals defeats.

“Yes, I think we’re not panicking any more and we’ve been a good team for years, we haven’t been able to get the ultimate glory again. But we’ve played solid footy over those years and now I think we’re maturing a lot.

“When you lose big games, you learn a lot. I know no one wants to hear about that. But you play big games – and we did it two years in a row, we went out in straight sets, everybody talks about it – you learn a lot, if you take something away. It’s not panicking.

“And I think our group and our coaching staff being able to find ways to win and win critical contests maybe when the game’s not going out way.”