Vision has emerged of Melbourne veteran Steven May appearing ignore captain Max Gawn during the skipper’s post-game address after the season-ending loss to Collingwood.

It comes as May has been heavily linked to an exit from the club despite being contracted for 2026.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Steven May appears to ignore Max Gawn’s address.

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The star defender is a two-time All-Australian and was a key member of the Demons’ 2021 premiership side, but his form has dipped considerably this year.

He was also involved in a highly publicised verbal stoush with Gawn in the moments after the Demons’ heartbreaking loss to Collingwood on King’s Birthday.

Reports also emerged in June that players expressed concern that May wasn’t held to the same account as others for his on-field actions and off-field behaviour.

And fresh vision, which you can watch in the video above, has come to light of another incident involving May following last Friday’s loss to the Magpies.

Gawn was sitting in the back row of the rooms speaking to his teammates, while May was appearing to chat to youngster Blake Howes.

“Is that unusual for a captain who is addressing the team for the last time after a game to have one of your leaders just sitting there chatting away with (Blake Howes) as he is? To me, that was a really poor look,” Caroline Wilson said on The Agenda Setters.

“I thought that was poor, speaking over Max Gawn.”

Three-time premiership captain Luke Hodge was hesitant to comment without knowing what was being said, but did admit it looked like May wasn’t respecting Gawn.

“It’s hard to say without understanding. He could have asked May a question and he could be just answering the question for a young fella,” Hodge said.

“It didn’t look great, but you sort of sit back. I know that there’s been times when (captain) has been speaking in meetings and you are talking to another teammate just about certain things.

“On face value, it looks like he’s not respecting what Max Gawn’s saying. It’s saying that he’s having his own conversation, whether he’s talking about what’s going on there. You don’t really know. You’re assuming from here.”

Wilson went on to say that it’s “informed speculation” based on previous instances, that includes the infamous dust-up with teammate Jack Melksham during the 2022 season.

“This is after we know that players in June went to the coach and made the point that in a year where it was meant to be all about love and all about looking after each other, they felt that Steven May was not being held to account for some of his behavioural stuff with teammates that they were being held to,” she said.

“We know that. It’s been reported. We know that there was frustration there. We know that May got suspended a few weeks ago. Very frustrating for a lot of his teammates.

“I don’t want to go back into the past, but it was in 2022, after that incredible run of 10 wins following the flag, that it all fell apart. And it didn’t all fall apart because of a punch-up outside Entrecote Restaurant in Prahran. But the timing was appalling, and the comments that were made that led to the punch-up were pretty unimpressive.”

Fellow panellist Dale Thomas then highlighted a series of on-field efforts against Collingwood that showed he wasn’t invested in the group.

“We can speculate as much about the off-field stuff, but one thing we can comment on is the off-field stuff. And this was some of the efforts that I would be questioning if I am the Melbourne hierarchy or the incoming coach,” he said.

“It’s do you really want to be out there and wearing this jumper? Because I’ve watched Steven May for a lot of his career, and I love when he’s playing his absolute best, there’s no way you’d want to stand in front of him. There’s no way you’d want to play on him.

“He’s a hard, dogged defender who wins the ball, and then he hurts you.

“In this positioning here, he’s not doing enough to help his teammates. His skill level there, that’s a lazy kick out of the back line.

“And it’s the last two games have probably been of a player who isn’t mentally switched on and invested into that group right now.

“Now, whether or not that continues next year, and he is there, but if you’re Melbourne, you’d be asking the questions, do you want to be here? If not, what can we get for you while you still have some currency? And there’s a world where it’s a win-win for everyone.

“If he doesn’t want to be there, move on, absolutely. The club gets something in return.”

The panel also raised concerns about Melbourne potentially not naming their new coach until grand final week given the amount of uncertainty surrounding a host of senior players.