Melbourne Demons’ defender Steven May has been sidelined for the season opener against GWS following a throat injury. May suffered a fractured larynx during training at Casey Fields on Friday, just before the game scheduled at the MCG on Sunday. As a result, Tom McDonald took May’s place in the starting lineup, while Harvey Langford, the No.6 draft pick, was named as the team’s substitute.
Alan Richardson, the Demons’ football chief, provided an update on May’s condition, indicating that the injury does not appear to be as severe as a similar injury sustained by captain Max Gawn earlier in the year. Gawn also fractured his larynx due to a training incident in December and was out of full training for a month.
Further evaluations are planned for May next week to ascertain his recovery timeline. In the meantime, GWS is looking to build on their opening game success after a significant 52-point victory over Collingwood in Sydney the previous week.