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Melbourne's premiership captain Max Gawn will miss up to five weeks of the AFL season because of an ankle injury, in a fresh blow for the Demons.

Melbourne captain Max Gawn will be sidelined for up to five weeks because of an ankle injury in the latest blow to the club's AFL premiership defence.

Gawn will miss between three and five weeks after suffering a syndesmosis injury in his left ankle during Monday's loss to Collingwood.

That result was the Demons' third consecutive defeat and came after Steven May was suspended for a fight with teammate Jake Melksham at a Melbourne restaurant.

The AFL on Wednesday said it won't impose additional sanctions on May or Melksham after holding its own investigation into their brawl.

Melbourne banned May for one game and ordered both the key defender and Melksham to perform community service.

"After multiple interviews and review of CCTV vision from the night, the AFL is satisfied the initial club-imposed sanctions are appropriate and will take no further action," the AFL said in a statement.

"The club has taken the matter extremely seriously however the AFL wishes to reinforce that no matter the situation or circumstances, violence is never the answer.

"As professional footballers, as people, we expect better."

Meanwhile, the loss of Gawn is a massive blow for the Demons, who cling to second spot with a 10-3 record, but the premiership skipper won't require surgery.

"Max had a left ankle concern during the game and, while he managed to battle through, was quite sore afterwards," Melbourne's football manager Alan Richardson said in a statement on Wednesday.

"He had some scans on Tuesday which unfortunately showed some ligament damage.

"Max will be in a moonboot until early next week and will then begin his structured rehabilitation program.

"It's obviously disappointing that we will be without our leader for the next three to five weeks.

"But we're hopeful it'll be a relatively quick recovery for Max."

Melbourne have a bye this weekend and then face a challenging stretch of games heading into the finals, starting with a June 23 encounter with ladder-leaders Brisbane.

May is available for selection for the Lions game, having served the club-imposed one-game ban for his fight with Melksham, who twice had surgery on a hand injury suffered in their June 5 fight.

After the Brisbane fixture, the Demons meet lowly Adelaide the following round but then play finals contenders for the remainder of the season - Geelong, Port Adelaide, Western Bulldogs, Fremantle, Collingwood, Carlton and the Lions again.