Gun Melbourne defender Steven May's place in the grand final is in doubt as the Demons zero in on their first appearance in a decider in 21 years.
The 2021 All-Australian limped off the field during the first quarter of Melbourne's 83-point smashing of Geelong in their preliminary final clash in Perth.
The former Sun then played through the second quarter with a heavily strapped right hamstring and was substituted out of the game in the third term.
May suffered the hamstring injury during a contest with Tom Hawkins, in which the Geelong spearhead pushed May in the back but wasn't penalised.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin gave a promising assessment of May's injury during his post-match media conference.
"We think it might be back-related, he can still move, so we'll assess that over the next few days," Goodwin said.
"We're quietly confident he'll be okay, but it is back-related tightness in the hamstring. So we'll have to assess that and see what it looks like over the next few days.
"It certainly won't hurt (to have two weeks off before the grand final); that's for sure. It gives him a chance to really rest and recover over the next few days."
Goodwin defended his decision to reinject May into the game, which put him at risk of causing further damage to his hamstring.
"The game was still in the balance, he's an important player to us, he felt like it was okay, (the medical team) felt like it may have been back-related, so at that stage of the game it was worth taking the risk," Goodwin said.
"He got a little bit tighter as the game went on, so we didn't want to take the risk, and we obviously subbed him out of the game."
Melbourne now have a two-week break before the grand final on Saturday, September 25, when they will face either Port Adelaide or the Western Bulldogs.
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