> Former Melbourne star Steven May has described having a "mental breakdown" that led to his sudden retirement on the eve of the AFL season.

>The dual All-Australian called it quits in March, exactly two weeks before the Demons' campaign began under new coach Steven King.

>"The worst part about it was I had just done a pre-season, and I hate pre-seasons," May told SEN on Wednesday.

>"Some people love them, but I really hate them.

>"It was the end of January so I'd finally got through it and was ready for a new year, I was injured all last season and had a bad year on the field.

>"I was really ready to show people that I still have it, did the pre-season, ran a PB in January, up and about, let's go.

>"Then I had a bit of a mental breakdown and found myself a bit lost and not sure what to do.

>"It came to a point where I had to put the club before myself.

>"I was able to retire before the deadline so then they could get another player in ... all in all it looks like it's worked well for both parties."

> His comments come less than a week after all charges were dropped against May and Richmond premiership midfielder Dion Prestia.

>The magistrate also ordered the legal costs of May and Prestia be paid by the Chief Commissioner of Police.

>"Your name gets dragged through the media. I know I don't have the greatest name already, so that didn't help," May said.

>"Especially when you were so innocent in something.

>"You can't really do much or say much because it's a criminal charge."

>May, who famously played in Melbourne's 2021 grand final win with a torn hamstring, is playing local football this year with East Ringwood.

>"There comes a point where you've got to make a decision that's best for my family but also for the footy club," he said.

>"My family is happy and the club is flying, so I'm pretty stoked with it."

>May played 128 games with Melbourne and 123 for Gold Coast, where he was also co-captain for two seasons.

1x Friday night game
1x 3:15 MCG game

RD 23 & 24 still TBC

"The full details of rounds 23 and 24 will be announced closer to the dates, with the AFL keeping those weeks as a floating fixture to maximise the excitement in the climax to the home-and-away season."

Round/Team	Date	Time	Venue
16 - Bye	25-28 JUNE
17 - Hawthorn	SAT 4 JULY	1:15	UTAS
18 - Richmond	SUN 12 JULY	3:15	MCG
19 - North Melb	SAT 18 JULY	4:15	Marvel
20 - Geelong	FRI 24 JULY	7:40	MCG
21 - Gold Coast	SUN 2 AUG	3:15	People First
22 - Fremantle	SAT 8 AUG	1:15	MCG
23 - TBC
24 - TBC

source: https://www.afl.com.au/news/1518652/in-full-see-the-complete-r16-22-fixture-as-derbies-get-primetime-treatment

https://preview.redd.it/826yx2v2p01h1.png?width=466&format=png&auto=webp&s=6db6f2aa18504e73de77021928439d0f6ba71b73

I didn't realise that both Chandler and Sparrow hit free agency at seasons' end. Been very important to us this year (and in recent years).

Both SA products, no doubt Crows and Power are sounding them out.

Likelihood that we retain one or both of them? Would love to see them commit longer term to Melbourne but not on one of these ridiculous 8 or 9 year contracts...

I don’t know why but I’ve never held so much rage against the umpires in a game where we’ve won?
Clear and Obvious errors OVER AND OVER today. Felt as though myself and all other members sitting near me saw that the AFL didn’t want a percentage boost for us? Similar to last week as well, any chance of a comeback was continuously rubbed out in the 3rd and 4th quarter by momentum breaking free kicks. Happy that we are up and winning but we should seriously have won by 70+ today and had way more of a sniff last week.

Hello AFL fans!

I volunteer with the Melbourne Esperanto Association, and we’ve won the right to host the World Esperanto Congress in Melbourne in July 2027, which means about 1,500 people coming from all over the world. We’re heading to this year's congress in Graz, Austria, in August and I want to take a bunch of old AFL scarves to hand out to attendees to give them a bit of Aussie culture and encourage them to come to Melbourne in the winter!

So if you've got old scarves sitting in a drawer that you're never going to wear again - from any AFL team - I’d love to take them off your hands and use them to “adopt” an Esperantist into your team. There's a pledge form at https://www.melburno.org.au/adopt-an-esperantist/ (no personal details required) where you can let us know what you’ve got, and it has details there on how to get them to us (drop offs in the Melbourne CBD, or post before 31st May).

Our goal is 400 scarves. The website has a tracker showing which clubs are in the lead if anyone wants to start a rivalry (at the time of posting, Essendon is in the lead… maybe some Collingwood fans need to help us out?).

no Kentfield debut which isn’t surprising as we didn’t get the obligatory “call to his family“ video this week.

Still good for 1 goal a game ❤️💙

Has anyone spotted him down at training?

I havnt seen his name mentioned at all for a while now

Gone are the days of throwing in the towel when the opposition gets a run on. Great to see them keeping their heads high and fighting til the end. Didn't get the points, but kicking that score against the best side in the comp away from home after losing Checkers so early is something to be proud of.

Does any remember/know of Russell richard’s (Played for the demons 1983-1987)

Just wanted to highlight how good our shot accuracy has been this season and give credit to the team and coaches behind the massive improvement we’ve seen. I know there are a lot of different factors that impact accuracy, but it’s so good to see our accuracy winning us games of footy when for years it has costed us wins. The Brisbane game this year is the perfect example.

I’ll run through some numbers

Goal Kicking Accuracy %
2026 - 52.8% (3rd in Comp)
2025 - 44.6% (16th in Comp)
2024 - 49.1% (9th in Comp)
2023 - 48.1% (8th in Comp)
2022 - 46.9% (15th in Comp)

Goals > Behinds in games
2026 - 8/9 (Freo game we scored 10.10)
2025 - 10/23
2024 - 12/23
2023 - 15/25
2022 - 11/25

Some notable matches we lost to inaccuracy
2022 SF vs Bris, 11.13 lost by 13
2023 Rnd 15 vs Geel, 8.15 lost by 15
2023 Rnd 16 vs GWS, 5.15 lost by 2
2023 QF vs Coll, 7.11 lost by 7
2023 SF vs Carl, 9.17 lost by 2
2024 Rnd 13 vs Coll, 6.15, lost by 38 (had 2 more shots at goal)
2024 Rnd 16 vs Bris, 11.15, lost by 5
2025 Rnd 9 vs Hawks, 7.14, lost by 35
2025 Rnd 12 vs St.K, 7.21, lost by 28
2025 Rnd 13 vs Coll, 10.11, lost by 1 (had 4 more shots at goal)
2025 Rnd 14 vs Port, 9.14, lost by 25 (equal shots at goal)

I’m an interstate supporter and will be in Melbourne for round 14 v bombers. What ticket am I best to select (GA or wing seat etc) and which area? Will be going to the game with my daughter who is a bombers supporter.