One of Steven May’s drinking partners defends the Demon, explains why they were at the pub

One of Steven May’s drinking partners on Sunday says they were at Harlow Bar because the Melbourne defender was “feeling a bit down” and “wanted to talk about a few things” over a beer with mates.

Daniel Gorringe, a former Gold Coast player himself, told Tom Elliott the under-fire Demon had “maybe two or three beers” at the Richmond venue.

May, who has endured a rough start to his career with Melbourne, was forced to apologise to his teammates on Tuesday after an image emerged of him drinking alcohol while sidelined injured.

Tom Elliott started the interview by asking Gorringe if they were out celebrating something.

“Actually it was quite the opposite,” Gorringe confessed on 3AW.

“Steve expressed he was feeling a bit down, not himself and wanted to talk about a few things so we thought we’d go have a beer and a chat as males do when there are issues that are hard to talk about.”

Gorringe said the group “didn’t disturb anyone or cause a scene” while they were there.

As for the person who took the photo and sent it to media outlets?

“I’m so disappointed … there’s got to be better human beings out there than that,” Gorringe said.

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview