The sledge that sparked a tussle between Melbourne teammates Steven May and Jake Melksham that saw the former suspended for one match has been revealed.
The pair of Demons players have been in the headlines since Tuesday afternoon after the club confirmed an altercation took place at Prahran restaurant, Entrecote, on Sunday night.
Several teammates were in attendance as the skirmish broke out, with a verbal insult from May to Melksham understood to have erupted the incident.
“If you had have played in the granny (grand final), we would have lost,” May allegedly said to Melksham, according to The Herald Sun.
May has since apologised for his actions, expressing his disappointment and labelling the altercation as "a bad error of judgement".
The All-Australian defender will miss Monday's Queen's Birthday clash against Collingwood, having been caught drinking while still recovering from a concussion.
“Just extremely disappointed. I know I’ve let a lot of people down, especially myself and the footy club, through uncharacteristic actions,” May said in an apology posted to the club's website.
“I’ve done a lot of work to try and build respect and trust at the footy club, and I’m disappointed these actions don’t reflect that.
“Just a bad mistake, a bad error of judgement, unfortunately has consequences.”
May said that despite the physical clash between him and Melksham, the pair remain "good mates" and regret their actions.
“We’re really good mates, we have a lot of love for each other. Sometimes guys can get a little bit competitive with the banter and go a little bit overboard,” he said.
“We certainly made an error of judgement in that time.
“We certainly didn’t mean for any of this to come back on the footy club.
“We’ve told our teammates we’re all fine – don’t feel like you have to pick sides or anything because we’re still good friends.
“It was just a silly decision that we made and deeply regret already.”
Melksham will require surgery on his hand as a result of the altercation, having sustained an infection.
The ailment will mean the 30-year-old will be unable for selection for the Round 13.
“Jake performed really strongly at VFL level last weekend and it’s disappointing to not have him available for selection this week," Demons football boss Alan Richardson said.
“What is more disappointing is that the injury keeping him out of the frame for selection is a result of the altercation Jake was involved in on Sunday evening.
“As a footy club we are deeply embarrassed by the events of Sunday and Jake and Steven understand that they have let our club, their teammates and our members down. I want to make it very clear that as a club, we do not condone violence of any manner, and the fact that our players allowed any disagreement to escalate to a physical level is completely unacceptable.
“As was communicated yesterday, as a result of their actions we have directed both Jake and Steven to undertake community service through our club community partners so that they can better understand their impact and responsibility as role models within the community."
Both May and Melksham will be required to complete community service with one of Melbourne's community partners as punishment for the incident.
The Demons and Magpies will clash at the MCG on Monday at 3:20pm (AEST)
