Melbourne holds breath after scary Steven May rib collision in dismal Dogs loss

Melbourne defender Steven May has suffered another scary rib injury which sent him to hospital after his side's 51-point loss to the Western Bulldogs on Friday night.

May was rushed to hospital during the match after a heavy clash with Bulldogs forward Laith Vandermeer in the second quarter.

It had Melbourne fans holding their breaths as the defender suffered a similar incident in round two of this season.

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Back in that match against Hawthorn, May was crunched in a marking contest on the wing with Hawks forward Mabior Chol.

The two-time All-Australian lay on the ground injured after receiving a knee to his rib area as Chol leapt for the ball.

Scans at the time revealed fractures to his ribs.

Now, Demons coach Simon Goodwin has lifted the lid on what went down in their round 21 loss.

"He's got some ribs (hurting) so we'll get them looked at," Goodwin said post match.

"We'll just have a good look at where that sits. But, obviously (he's gone) away to get precautionary scans, check everything, make sure everything's right with Steve.

"Fingers crossed he's okay."

The loss added salt to the wounds, as the Demons were pulled apart across all areas of the ground.

It was the Dogs' midfield that really tore the Demons to shreds, though.

Bailey Dale collected 34 disposals, while Marcus Bontempelli had 33, and in game 150, Adam Treloar collected 30 disposals.

"They dominated us around the ball and were able to score way too easily," Goodwin said.

"That's the bottom line. We just weren't up to that level tonight."

The Demons loss keeps them two games out of the top eight, with three home-and-away games left.