How Neil Mitchell feels about being a Melbourne supporter today
Neil Mitchell is “disappointed, let down and pessimistic about the future” of Melbourne Football Club after two players fought in an alcohol-fuelled scrap at a restaurant on Sunday night.
The Demons say a “lighthearted disagreement” between Steven May and Jake Melksham at Entrecote in Prahran escalated.
Melksham has since undergone surgery as a result of the fight while May has been suspended for one game over drinking alcohol against the club’s guidelines.
Neil Mitchell feels like “the last few months have been a delusion, some sort of sick joke to convince Melbourne supporters there’s a future”, and he’s worried about the arrogance shown by his team.
“The players were out boozing on a Sunday, mid-season,” the 3AW Mornings host said.
“They’ve allowed a disagreement to escalate into a brawl.
“And this really annoys me, nobody has had the decency to apologise to that restaurant … they have said no apology from Stephen May or the club.
“I believe this is a regular haunt for the players. It won’t be now. Were none of them sufficiently decent to get on the phone and say ‘We’re sorry, it got out of control … we’ll pay for the damage’?
“What I’m talking about here is a culture — a culture of arrogance, a culture of entitlement. It’s an ugly culture that doesn’t win premierships, it assumes they’ll be presented to them on a platter!
“It wasn’t only Steven May and Jake Melksham who failed on Sunday night. Whoever was there should have acted to stop it, and they probably shouldn’t have been there anyway.
“I just have this sad feeling that we’re back where we started and the past year has been a lovely dream.
“The level of disappointment is exactly what we’ve come to expect over the last 57 years — this is what it means to be a Melbourne supporter.”
Press PLAY below to hear Neil Mitchell’s scathing Demons criticism
Since this editorial went to air, Entrecote says it has received a formal apology from both May and Melksham.
Melbourne star suspended following booze-fuelled ‘altercation’ with teammate