Shaun Smith, father of current Melbourne player Joel, says the club's playing list is now “all good” after the infamous fight outside Entrecote restaurant in June.
While the exact details of what happened outside the Prahran restaurant on Sunday, June 5 remain somewhat unclear to this day, Steven May allegedly antagonised some teammates about missing out on the 2021 Grand Final, which the Demons won by 74 points.
When Jake Melksham intervened, May became upset and instigated a physical fight. He was punched in the face outside the restaurant by Melksham, who suffered an infection as a result, while May was suspended by the club for one match.
Sportsday’s Sam McClure revealed in the aftermath that it was comments directed at defender Joel Smith, who missed the Grand Final despite playing the Qualifying Final, that kicked off the incident.
Shaun Smith, Joel’s father and former Demon, spoke to SEN’s Dwayne’s World about how the ordeal now sits with the players.
“Really he (Joel) organised the night just as a get-together, they had a ten-day break or something, they’d had a couple of losses,” Smith said.
“So it was disappointing his name got dragged through there a bit, I just said to Joel you just have to ignore it, and he did the right thing, he sort of did do that and just gone on with what he does.
“I guess as a league player nowadays with cameras and phones you’ve got to be very careful what you do, and if something does happen, how you handle it.
“I think he handled it really well.”
In the aftermath, rumours circled the incident could tear the Demons apart.
Simon Goodwin’s men had won the first 11 games of the season to continue their dominance from last season but had lost two in a row before the incident in Prahran.
Five-time premiership Hawk Dermott Brereton at the time said “the deep-seeded scar off those comments will last with those boys who didn’t play forever”, with many echoing similar thoughts.
However, when asked if the incident has been smoothed over amongst the playing group, Smith suggested it had been sorted out.
“(It’s) all good (now),” he said.
“Some people (reports) got it wrong, some got it right and somewhere in between is the truth sort of thing.
“It’s all sweet now, it was just an incident. Boys will be boys sometimes; they sort it out and they move on.”
Melbourne would go on to lose their next game to Collingwood but have discovered somewhere near their best form in recent weeks to triumph in three of their last four.
They’re second on the ladder heading into Round 19 and seem set for back-to-back top four finishes.
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