Steven May AFL Tribunal decision slammed as 'rubbish' and 'unbelievable'

Kieran Francis

Steven May AFL Tribunal decision slammed as 'rubbish' and 'unbelievable' image

Steven May's three-match ban for rough conduct from the AFL Tribunal has been criticised by two ex-AFL stars.

The Melbourne defender was found guilty for the incident which saw him concuss Carlton utility Francis Evans last weekend.

However, the decision has been widely debated by pundits across the AFL, with former Hawthorn star Ben Dixon disagreeing with David King about the merits of the suspension.

“I think it’s rubbish. Eight inches that ball bounces the other way, Steven May gets that ball,” Dixon stated on Fox Footy.

MORE: BANNED: Steven May found guilty at AFL tribunal

King replied: “You’re arguing that’s eight inches. The AFL is arguing the decision to be absolutely going flat-chat with a collision inevitable, you have to make sure you miss the head.”

Dixon answered: “So, what they’re saying now is we’ve got a contact sport into a caution sport. You’ve got to approach that with caution … that’s the fabric of our game.”

Ex-St Kilda gun Nick Riewoldt was also stunned by the AFL judiciary's decision, taking offence to the Tribunal's wording that any 'reasonable player' wouldn't have been involved in a collision like May.

"I want to meet this reasonable player. Who is he; who is this reasonable player? An unbelievable decision from the AFL tribunal last night to suspend Steven May," Riewoldt said on Triple M's Mick in the Morning.

"I thought common sense was going to prevail; we had one earlier in the year with Alex Pearce, and I thought, ‘Good! They’re not trying to jam every incident into their own narrative that every head knock and subsequent concussion is a breach of duty of care.

MORE: Steven May suspension would be 'unrealistic', claims AFL legend

"There are going to be accidents, it’s a contact sport.’ Yet here we are. Steven May: suspended for three weeks.

"I haven’t heard this before; usually, it’s within the framework, but now we’re talking about a ‘reasonable player’ being able to react in 0.056 seconds. We’re asking them to assess in less than a second to assess if they’re going to be late [to a contest].

"We’ve been telling them - don’t bump, don’t brace, don’t tuck, don’t jump, don’t leave the ground – but they’re full of it.

"What they’re really asking players is: don’t compete. Steven May goes limp with his arms – you can see that it’s unnatural - that’s his duty of care; I think he lived up to it."

Kieran Francis

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia. He started at Sportal.com.au before being a part of the transition to Sporting News in 2015. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, he was appointed chief editor of Goal.com in Australia. He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.