{"id":511778,"date":"2026-03-01T12:37:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T12:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/511778\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T12:37:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T12:37:16","slug":"premiership-winning-demons-defender-retires-from-afl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/511778\/","title":{"rendered":"Premiership-winning Demons defender retires from AFL"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne premiership defender Steven May has announced his immediate retirement just days out from the start of the AFL season.<\/p>\n

May had been on personal leave from the Demons for several weeks after police were called to his house after a complaint on January 29.<\/p>\n

Steven May has announced his retirement from AFL.\u00a0Photo by Josh Chadwick\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old, who was contracted for the 2026 season, has reportedly reached a confidential settlement with the club.<\/p>\n

He announced his retirement on Sunday night via social media and is expected to address Demons players on Monday.<\/p>\n

“It’s with a heavy heart that I’ve decided to step away and retire from the AFL,” May posted on Instagram.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Picks<\/a><\/p>\n

“It’s an incredibly tough decision to make on the eve of the season, but I know it’s the right one for myself, my family and the team.”<\/p>\n

May started his career with Gold Coast in 2011 and captained the Suns before moving to Melbourne at the end of 2018.<\/p>\n

The two-time All-Australian played 251 games and was a key figure in the Demons’ drought-breaking 2021 premiership.<\/p>\n

“As a kid from Darwin, all I ever wanted was to play one game of AFL,” he posted.<\/p>\n

“To have lived that dream and had the career I’ve had is something I’ll be forever grateful for.”<\/p>\n

May said Melbourne and new coach Steven King “deserve some clean air and no distractions moving forward” and wished them well.<\/p>\n

As recently as last week, Demons captain Max Gawn had been hopeful May would return to the club.<\/p>\n

“He’s a premiership player and a very, very decent fullback,” Gawn told AAP.<\/p>\n

“So, yeah, hopefully that all gets worked out at some point.”<\/p>\n

In a club statement on Sunday night, Melbourne said May had decided to retire in order to “focus on his family and his own personal growth”.<\/p>\n

Demons CEO Paul Guerra thanked May for his contribution to the club.<\/p>\n

“We thank Steven for his efforts in the red and blue and the commitment he brought to the club during his time,” Guerra said.<\/p>\n

“We’re pleased that Steven has made the decision that, at this stage of his life, stepping away from football to focus on building a positive future for himself and his family is his best path forward.<\/p>\n

“We wish Steven and his family all the best as he embarks on the next chapter of his life.”<\/p>\n

Melbourne offered up May for trade last year but could not find a buyer.<\/p>\n

His retirement means the Demons can replace him on their list before Monday’s supplemental selection period deadline.<\/p>\n

May and former Gold Coast teammate Dion Prestia are also fighting charges after a late-2024 brawl in Sorrento on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.<\/p>\n

The pair have asked for the charges to be withdrawn, saying they were not present at the brawl.<\/p>\n

Last year, May had a heavily-scrutinised on-field argument with Gawn after the final siren in the King’s Birthday loss to Collingwood.<\/p>\n

In 2022, May was suspended for one match and apologised after he was involved in a fight with teammate Jake Melksham at a venue in Prahran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melbourne premiership defender Steven May has announced his immediate retirement just days out from the start of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-511778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}