Hawthorn Hawks appoint co-captains for the first time, Jai Newcombe and James Sicily; Dion Prestia, Steven May ask for assault charges to be withdrawn over Sorrento fight
Sicily said he looks forward to sharing the honor with Newcombe, as well as celebrating the highs and leaning on him for the lows.
McCartney said it was time to split the role.
“James has been and continues to be an integral leader of the club. Having undertaken an internal process, we believe the co-captain model will work best for our group in the long term, whilst also leveraging the complementary strengths of two different leaders to meet the broad responsibilities required of a modern AFL captain,” McCartney said.
“Jai has emerged as the clear candidate to step into the captaincy role alongside James. He leads by example, performs with elite consistency week in week out and has proven his ability to raise the bar on the biggest stages.”
The Hawks will once again be banking on a big season from Newcombe after Will Day confirmed he will miss the first half of the season following shoulder surgery and James Worpel following the defeat to Geelong.
-Peter Ryan
May and Prestia ask court to withdraw affray charges
Two AFL premiership players say they were not present when a brawl broke out in a seaside town as they fight to have criminal charges withdrawn.
Dion Prestia, 33, from Richmond, and Steven May, 34, from Melbourne, appeared in Dromana Magistrates’ Court via video link for a brief hearing on Thursday.
Footballers Steven May (left) and Dion Prestia are contesting the charges.Credit: Getty Images
They were charged with criminal offenses in October, nearly 10 months after the fight took place on Point Nepean Road in Sorrento on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
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Police claimed that on December 27, 2024, at around 02:00 in the morning, two groups were involved in a fight and two men were hospitalized with injuries.
Prestia was charged upon summons with recklessly causing serious injury, intentional causing injury and affray.
May was charged with defamation over the subpoena.
However, both actors deny being present during the fight and declare their innocence.
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Their lawyer, Tony Hargreaves, told the court on Thursday that he had submitted detailed written statements to police explaining why the charges should be withdrawn.
This, he said, included the testimony of a witness who claimed that neither Prestia nor May were present at the time of the fight.
Hargreaves said Victoria Police was considering their application and asked for the case to be adjourned until February to talk about the competition.
Prosecutor Alex Turner said the matter was referred to his unit and agreed to the adjournment.
Prestia and May, who remain accused, will appear in Frankston Magistrates’ Court on February 20.
The duo, who started their AFL careers together on the Gold Coast, had previously made statements declaring their innocence through their clubs.
“I was not involved in the fight. Apparently I wasn’t even physically present when it happened,” Prestia said in a statement released by Richmond in October.
Premiership Tiger Dion Prestia wants charges withdrawn.Credit: via Getty Images
“I deny being guilty of these crimes and will defend these charges vigorously.”
Melbourne said May told them she was not involved and would “vigorously defend” the charge in court.
Both AFL clubs support the players.
Prestia is a three-time premiership player for Richmond and won the club’s best and fairest award in 2019.
May played for Melbourne in the 2021 premiership and is a dual All-Australian player.
AAP
