Another Melbourne Football Club premiership star has departed. But the ‘eggshell’ era is over

May looked around and while a number of clubs were kicking the tires, they ultimately had no interest in even a two-time All-Australian who would be 34 in round one.

This period of trading came amid information that May was facing police charges in relation to an alleged assault in Sorrento. These are charges that he and his accomplice, Dion Prestia of Richmond, both vehemently deny. They claimed they were not present at the alleged fight and asked the court to withdraw the charges. This is an application they will renew at the next hearing.

Satisfied with the expiration of his contract, May returned to Melbourne for pre-season. Then the opportunity arose for police to be called to his home earlier this year. May, who has been dealing with a series of personal problems, has not trained with the club since.

May was keen to sort out his personal life off the field and, with the season quickly drawing to a close, Melbourne were keen to settle matters with him and seize the opportunity to add another player to their list before the additional selection window closes on Monday afternoon. On Sunday night, the club and May’s manager Dave Trotter reached a financial agreement and May retired.

The timing of the official retirement meant the Demons had time to add another player to their list and they quickly did so by signing Paddy Cross, who had been training with them over the summer.

May’s retirement is the latest in a string of big name changes as part of the Melbourne revolution over the past 12 months.

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With a new president, coach, CEO and chief football officer, the club is now stripped of a third of its biggest names.

But in reality Melbourne has undergone a quiet roster restructuring over the last five years, starting under Simon Goodwin. At every opportunity, Demons list manager Tim Lamb and recruiter Jason Taylor, courted by Adelaide to take the job of Justin Reid, who recently left for the AFL, traded for early draft picks.

The Demons have added eight first-round picks since 2021: Jacob Van Rooyen, Xavier Lindsay, Matt Jefferson, Latrelle Pickett, Harvey Langford, Koltyn Tholstrup Caleb Windsor and Xavier Taylor – and already have two first-round picks in this year’s draft. Their quiet restructuring became louder in the last trading period.

It’s clear that the players in key roles under King will be significantly different from the players under Goodwin.

The style of play they will play will also be very different: much faster and more aggressive. They are not as dependent on winning stoppages as they were under Goodwin, they want quicker ball movement and more freedom for players to play with their instincts, albeit within the confines of the rolling formation. They talk more about multi-position players rather than players who stick to traditional roles.

In football training, training loads increased with much higher intensity and high speed running. It will be interesting how many players will be devastated by injury.

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May’s departure is unthinkable outside the context of a club calling for change. But there has to be room to appreciate what he has done and achieved as a player.

For a while May was as good as any key defender in the game. Outside of Darwin, he was a staple on the Gold Coast and joint-captained that fledgling club before heading to Melbourne, where he won two Australians and a drought-breaking premiership.

Still, the timing was right for May to reach the decision she made on Sunday. He knew he had to leave, for the sake of himself and the club.