Melbourne and Richmond players address allegations over street brawl

Both Melbourne and Richmond have provided statements acknowledging ongoing allegations involving their respective premiership players, Steven May and Dion Prestia, in a Melbourne street brawl.

The duo are alleged to have been present at a brawl outside Sorrento's Continental Hotel late last year that left one young male with a broken eye socket, detached retina and fractured nose, alongside another injured man.

One man has given a statement to detectives at Rosebud, and both players spoke with The Age.

Demons defender May allegedly participated in the altercation, with triple premiership Tiger Prestia also reportedly involved in the fight that occurred during the recent Christmas holiday period.

One of the men injured in the brawl claimed that May said, "Come on, let's go", then punched another man.

Fox Footy is not suggesting that the accusations are true — only that police have received an official complaint on the matter, which is now under investigation. Richmond stated that Prestia only witnessed the brawl and was not involved.

Victoria Police reported, "It is understood a physical altercation occurred between two groups of men on Point Nepean Road about 2am. Two men were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. An official report has now been made to police and investigations into the circumstances of the incident remain ongoing."

Both May and Prestia were celebrating the bucks' party of a mutual friend at Hotel Sorrento on Boxing Day evening before heading to the Continental Hotel shortly before midnight, where the alleged altercation occurred.

Melbourne provided multiple outlets with the following statement: "It is the role of police to check the veracity of any complaint, and we will assist where required."

Prestia opted not to address questions regarding the allegations when approached at Richmond's community camp in Albury, telling a 9 News reporter to "f*** off" before adding "there's kids around".

A Richmond spokesperson cited the club's initial December statement, which asserted, "Prestia saw it happening but in no way was he involved. They weren't involved in any physical altercation."

Both Prestia and May began their AFL careers in 2011 at the Gold Coast Suns before returning to Victoria. May was traded to the Demons after the 2018 season, later achieving back-to-back All-Australian selections and contributing significantly to the Demons' 2021 premiership. Prestia joined Richmond ahead of the 2017 season, playing in all three Tigers premierships and receiving the 2019 best and fairest award.