Collingwood star Jordan De Goey has delivered the perfect retort to Melbourne defender Steve May.

“I’m the one with the medal around my neck.”

AFL marketers will have no shortage of material to promote the now traditional King’s Birthday blockbuster between the two clubs after the events of the past month.

First, there was the “all duck, no dinner” line from Ed Langdon last year. Then there was the Demons’ anger after Magpies enforcer Brayden Maynard knocked out Angus Brayshaw after an attempted smother gone wrong in Collingwood’s narrow win in the qualifying final. Now there’s the tit-for-tat between players.

May let the Melbourne faithful know exactly what he felt of the Pies’ flag at the Demons’ best and fairest count on Friday.

“You know, we lose to Collingwood, and they go on to win the flag, and it f---ing hurts,” May said while accepting his award for finishing fifth in the Dees’ club championship.

“Because we’re a better team than them, we should have smoked them.

“And to sit there on grand final day and watch them hoist the cup, and get the medals, I’m sitting there going ‘geez, our team’s so much better than these guys’. We should’ve been out there, but we weren’t.”

De Goey gave the black and white side of the argument on Tuesday morning.

“I just think the proof’s in the pudding,” De Goey said on Nine’s Today show.

“I guess I’m the one with the medal around my neck at the moment, so that’s all I can really say.

“It’s going to be interesting next year after (him) saying that, isn’t it.”