Move Heaven and Earth...

[double hoops]

This sounds fanciful!! Sorry but I cannot see it.

Those boys dribble.

One is a Manly supporter.

I couldn't listen to 1.5 hours of there dribble, but what I did hear was a supporter that really rates Terrell I think he described him as Payne Haas 2.0.

 

[Rocky]

We need Brandon Smith today.

Can win the comp in 2025 with him.

If it was Harry Grant maybe.

Brandon smith is an ordinary hooker.

 

[Disco]

Those boys dribble.

One is a Manly supporter.

I couldn't listen to 1.5 hours of there dribble, but what I did hear was a supporter that really rates Terrell I think he described him as Payne Haas 2.0.

Both big Manly fans

 

[double hoops]

Both big Manly fans

Did u find this bit about an ex wahs?

 

[Disco]

Did u find this bit about an ex wahs?

Nah I dont listen to hello sport too much beyond their dirty merger podcast with Bloke

 

[LeonardCohen]

There's a telegraph article behind a paywall suggesting there were 'four words' that ended May's career at the Roosters as they look to make 'a cultural shift'. I'd be interested in anyone has access to the article and can confirm what those four words were. I can image the beat up already...it was probably 'time for a holiday!'

 

[Leho]

The interview that ended Terrell May’s Sydney Roosters career​

This is the interview that terminated Terrell May’s tenure at the Sydney Roosters as the club begins enforcing a cultural shift in Bondi.
Dean Ritchie
2 min read
November 6, 2024 - 6:32PM

I don’t wanna play.
They were the four words that terminated Terrell May’s tenure at the Sydney Roosters.
Despite playing all 27 games this season, the Roosters last week told a shocked May he was free to leave the club immediately, despite signing a $950,000 contract extension in April.

While the Roosters won’t comment publicly, this masthead has been told that May’s carefree attitude towards rugby league - and the club - was the catalyst towards his shock exit.
Sydney Roosters hierarchy demand their players are fully invested and some felt May wasn’t totally committed to the club and the game.
May also wielded some influence over a number of young players at the club – another concern for Roosters officials.
The club has no ill-feelings towards May.
Concern for May’s future at the Roosters started in September when he conducted a media interview during the finals campaign.

He said: “Sometimes I just get ‘I don’t wanna be there and don’t wanna play’.

“I gave it away twice, when I was 18 and then when I was 20. Both times I just didn’t want to play anymore. I get like that throughout the year as well.
“It’s a weird feeling. I don’t think many people experience it where one week they love the game and go on the TV screens and the next week they don’t want to be there at all.”
The comments set off alarm bells at Bondi.
One of the Roosters’ best players in 2024, May is well-liked at the club and doesn’t drink alcohol.

“I was devastated for him,” Roosters teammate Angus Crichton said last week.
“He is literally straight as an arrow. He doesn’t drink, he is a really good guy and he hasn’t done anything off the field to warrant this.”

May was subjected to hurtful and incorrect accusations about why he was told to leave the club.
He also said in the interview: “Sometimes I just feel I could quit, like in a day. It sounds a bit weird, but I get those thoughts sometimes where I’m just like ‘Is this really for me? I’m very grateful to be where I am and play with the Roosters, but rugby league isn’t the whole of me.’
“Then you just look at the bigger picture. You need to support your family and I couldn’t do it without footy. I have aspirations to take the club to the grand final and play for NSW.”
May represented Samoa in their two-Test series against England in England.

 

[double hoops]

Nah I dont listen to hello sport too much beyond their dirty merger podcast with Bloke

Found it.

Sounds like he had a dream after some cones to me. He forget all about this drum when they earlier spoke about May and how they'd like him at Manly. Then said he just Remembered because he'd just seen Jazz's face? Where? Sounds like he's just making this stuff up on the fly.

But he does specifically say
Jazz Tevaga swap deal for May.

Scrap any suggestion it's the Union kid.

 

[Heckenberg]

There's a telegraph article behind a paywall suggesting there were 'four words' that ended May's career at the Roosters as they look to make 'a cultural shift'. I'd be interested in anyone has access to the article and can confirm what those four words were. I can image the beat up already...it was probably 'time for a holiday!'

“Doing, the eagle rock”

 

[Jay Eagle]

Would love to get:
May
Bateman and
Taukeiaho

Release whoever needs to be moved on (Asatasi Janes, Dean Matterson, Cory Waddell, even Ben T if needed, I believe Lodge gone and make it happen.. it's business.. the business of WINNING

 

[eaglebuzz]

Would love to get:
May
Bateman and
Taukeiaho

Release whoever needs to be moved on (Asatasi Janes, Dean Matterson, Cory Waddell, even Ben T if needed, I believe Lodge gone and make it happen.. it's business.. the business of WINNING

I could take or leave Taukeiaho but the other 2 plus dumping Croker from the 9 would turn us into an instant premiership threat.

 

[eagleron]

Terrell May played every game last season. So why are the Roosters showing him the door?​

“What’s happened?”​

Along with the rest of rugby league, Terrell May was asking himself that very question when the news came down the line on Thursday afternoon.

​

The Roosters prop has been told he is free to leave the club immediately, just six months after signing a two-year extension that more than doubled his salary.

As one of the most improved players in the NRL and a 25-year-old prop in a market short on quality front-rowers, May will attract plenty of interest. But on Friday, club officials throughout the league were asking what had prompted the Roosters to offer their player the chance to seek a deal elsewhere.

As reported by this masthead on Thursday when it broke the news of Trent Robinson’s call to May, there is an element within the Roosters that feels May doesn’t fit into the club’s vision of where it wants to go.

The context of that is two-fold: one is a matter of freeing up salary cap space to enter a volatile player market, the other a 2024 post-mortem in which every aspect of the club went under the microscope.

The implication of the latter is one May and his manager David Rawlings are at pains to dismiss as merely rugby league’s rumour mill does what it does worst – speculates until it is foaming at the mouth.

“The club indicated to us [that] they had depth in that position and they were looking at a different position of player, so we could explore our options in the market,” Rawlings told this masthead.

“There is no more to it. He had a great season, was on the cusp of an Origin debut, is currently in the UK representing Samoa and voted by his NRL peers into the RLPA team of the year. He is in the top echelon of middle forwards, so there will be no shortage of options.”

May was rocked by Robinson’s call, and many have asked why the Roosters couldn’t have broken the news in person when he returns to Sydney early next week. Robinson is currently overseas, too.

Roosters sources speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the situation have insisted Robinson did not hold any concerns over May’s ability to fit into his team or club culture.

The coach wouldn’t have played him in all 27 games this season – the only Roosters player to do so – if he did.

But Robinson has also been known to make a tough, ruthless call or two in his time, most notably the Cooper Cronk signing that sent favourite son Mitchell Pearce to Newcastle and helped deliver the Roosters their last premierships.

The private belief is that May is close to his playing ceiling, and that bringing through the next crop of young middles – led by highly rated 19-year-olds De La Salle Va’a and Blake Steep, as well as Va’a’s brother, Xavier – is the shrewd salary cap move.

Especially given Spencer Leniu and Lindsay Collins are already signed long-term, with both their salaries due to increase next year.
May’s two-year extension means he was due to earn around $950,000 over 2025 and 2026, with a car also included in the deal under NRL salary cap regulations.

As for where he lands, clubs in the market for middle forwards like Canterbury, the Tigers and Dragons will do extensive diligence given the Roosters’ surprise move.

The Bulldogs were in discussions with May for several months last year but grew frustrated with negotiations to the point they pulled a three-year offer, before eventually re-starting talks again.
At the time, May and his brothers, Tyrone and Taylan, spoke publicly of wanting to play NRL together, a prospect several clubs blanched at given well-documented off-field incidents involving Tyrone and Taylan.

The middle May brother has a blemishless record, and multiple Roosters sources have insisted there is no off-field drama behind him being given permission to leave early.
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May does not drink, still lives in western Sydney and, as the Roosters have found, is cut from a different cloth to most rugby league players.
Privately, some Roosters figures have wondered whether May truly embraced life at the club, given he has been absent from several functions this season, albeit with extenuating circumstances.

Media access to the rising prop has been rare, but when he has spoken publicly, May has been remarkably candid.

When he sat down with the Herald during the Roosters’ finals campaign, he detailed a complicated relationship with the game that belied his career-best form this year.

“Sometimes I just get, ‘I don’t want to be there and don’t want to play’,” May said in September, referring to the two previous occasions he gave up on playing NRL, when he was 18 and 20.

“It’s a weird feeling. I don’t think many people experience it where one week they love the game and go on the TV screens and the next week they don’t want to be there at all.

“Sometimes I just feel I could quit, like in a day. It sounds a bit weird, but I get those thoughts sometimes where I’m just like, ‘Is this really for me?’ I’m very grateful to be where I am and play with the Roosters, but rugby league isn’t the whole of me.

“Then you just look at the bigger picture. You need to support your family and I couldn’t do it without footy. I have aspirations to take the club to the GF and to play for NSW.”

The bigger picture May spoke of then is a fascinating one now, for both he and the Roosters.

And the question of “what’s happened?” for one of the NRL’s rising stars and its most glamorous clubs swings the rumour mill into overdrive again with another.
“What happens next?”

Reminiscent of Foz the season before he left the first time, he was saying very similar things

 

[Uk eagle]

Who doesn't have those thoughts/feelings in any job? It doesn't mean he's any less committed just because he's voiced those thoughts. There's probably a decent percentage of players who would be wondering if it's worth putting your body through hell every week

 

[Dee Why Eagle]

I wrote the story that ended Terrell May’s Roosters career … and there’s more to it​

Adrian Proszenko​

Chief Rugby League "Reporter"
November 7, 2024 — 3.50pm

Apparently, I have blood on my hands.

The Roosters have told Terrell May to move on while the ink is barely dry on his contract extension and recent accounts suggest it’s got nothing to do with the club’s salary cap situation, their need to cover for injured stars Sam Walker and Brandon Smith or the surplus of forwards they have on their books.
No, evidently the reason the Roosters are marching May towards the exit relates to an interview I conducted with him at Kensington’s Bar Lucio in mid-August, and the story that was subsequently published by this masthead on the eve of the finals about a month later.
Over the course of an hour, May offered up his life story. Sharing it was a chance to give the fans a rare insight into why his relationship with rugby league has been a complicated one.

May initially played football to please his father, then because his siblings Taylan and Tyrone – who both played at NRL level before running into off-field dramas – were good at it. Because football provided a better life to a family that struggled to put food on the table while growing up in housing commission lodgings in Mount Druitt. Because there were teachers who overlooked him for the school footy team and told him he would never amount to anything. Because of the scrutiny the game put on his family. Because there were other things he was also passionate about, like again working in the disability sector. Because he wants to be his own man.

“I hate getting compared to my brothers, we’re all different,” he told me.

At times, it became too much; on two occasions, at the age of 18 and 20, he walked away from the game, revealing, “I just didn’t want to play any more”.
“It’s a weird feeling. I don’t think many people experience it where one week they love the game and go on the TV screens and the next week they don’t want to be there at all,” May said at the time.

“Sometimes I just feel I could quit, like in a day. It sounds a bit weird, but I get those thoughts sometimes where I’m just like, ‘Is this really for me? I’m very grateful to be where I am and play with the Roosters, but rugby league isn’t the whole of me’.
“Then you just look at the bigger picture. You need to support your family and I couldn’t do it without footy. I have aspirations to take the club to the grand final and to play for NSW.”

Of all of the conversations I’ve had with footballers for over a quarter of a century, this was one of the most candid. Sadly, given the fallout, maybe fans can expect less of it in the future.
May’s sentiments have been seized upon as the reason he has been tapped on the shoulder. There has also been a narrative pushed that there were cultural reasons for the decision, prompting him to post on his Instagram account: “Nothing to do with off-field stuff.”
Neither explanation holds water. There is nothing the Roosters would have read about May that they didn’t know already.

There is no doubt May is different. The 25-year-old has a quirky sense of humour, one the public rarely sees. When Herald photographer Louise Kennerley asked to take a photo of him without his bum bag, he politely declined because he wanted to be seen as his authentic self. He’s also abstained from social media for long periods over concerns about how he will be portrayed.
“That’s just the way I am, all the boys know I just mock everything and I take nothing serious,” he said.

‘I just mock everything and I take nothing serious’
Terrell May

“I forget there are all these cameras now. It’s hard because I try to be myself on the camera as well, but it just doesn’t work out. It just always gets me in trouble, so just trying to stay away from that stuff.”

Suggestions he’s failed a character test at the Roosters are also off the mark. At a time when the club got heat for handing lifelines to Matt Lodge, Brandon Smith and Michael Jennings – each arrived at Bondi Junction hauling considerable baggage – May has given the club no cause for concern.

Indeed, such has been May’s rise that he played all 27 games for the Roosters this season, including an 80-minute performance at prop. If he wasn’t fully committed to rugby league, he wouldn’t have embarked on an off-season tour to England, to represent Samoa, while his wife was pregnant. He wouldn’t have been crowned the Rugby League Players’ Association inaugural impact player of the year if he wasn’t committed.

Further, it makes little sense for the Roosters to be badmouthing a player when they’re trying to get another club to buy him.

So how did we get here?
The truth is that the Roosters roster is forward heavy, as evidenced by young gun Siua Wong struggling to crack first grade for most of last season. May’s style of play, viewed internally as being less compatible with the team’s future direction, coupled with holes in the roster that need filling, have conspired against him. Unfortunately for May, it has made him the player most dispensable.

On the cusp of Origin selection, May has plenty to offer and will ultimately find he fits in better somewhere else. The next chapter will only add to one of sport’s most intriguing stories. We shouldn’t be discouraging him from telling it.

 

[Dee Why Eagle]

I wrote the story that ended Terrell May’s Roosters career … and there’s more to it​

Adrian Proszenko​

Chief Rugby League Reporter
November 7, 2024 — 3.50pm
Save

​

Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size

Apparently, I have blood on my hands.
The Roosters have told Terrell May to move on while the ink is barely dry on his contract extension and recent accounts suggest it’s got nothing to do with the club’s salary cap situation, their need to cover for injured stars Sam Walker and Brandon Smith or the surplus of forwards they have on their books.
No, evidently the reason the Roosters are marching May towards the exit relates to an interview I conducted with him at Kensington’s Bar Lucio in mid-August, and the story that was subsequently published by this masthead on the eve of the finals about a month later.
Over the course of an hour, May offered up his life story. Sharing it was a chance to give the fans a rare insight into why his relationship with rugby league has been a complicated one.

May initially played football to please his father, then because his siblings Taylan and Tyrone – who both played at NRL level before running into off-field dramas – were good at it. Because football provided a better life to a family that struggled to put food on the table while growing up in housing commission lodgings in Mount Druitt. Because there were teachers who overlooked him for the school footy team and told him he would never amount to anything. Because of the scrutiny the game put on his family. Because there were other things he was also passionate about, like again working in the disability sector. Because he wants to be his own man.

Terrell May is cut from a different cloth to most in rugby league.Credit:Louise Kennerley SMH
“I hate getting compared to my brothers, we’re all different,” he told me.
At times, it became too much; on two occasions, at the age of 18 and 20, he walked away from the game, revealing, “I just didn’t want to play any more”.
“It’s a weird feeling. I don’t think many people experience it where one week they love the game and go on the TV screens and the next week they don’t want to be there at all,” May said at the time.

“Sometimes I just feel I could quit, like in a day. It sounds a bit weird, but I get those thoughts sometimes where I’m just like, ‘Is this really for me? I’m very grateful to be where I am and play with the Roosters, but rugby league isn’t the whole of me’.
“Then you just look at the bigger picture. You need to support your family and I couldn’t do it without footy. I have aspirations to take the club to the grand final and to play for NSW.”
Of all of the conversations I’ve had with footballers for over a quarter of a century, this was one of the most candid. Sadly, given the fallout, maybe fans can expect less of it in the future.
May’s sentiments have been seized upon as the reason he has been tapped on the shoulder. There has also been a narrative pushed that there were cultural reasons for the decision, prompting him to post on his Instagram account: “Nothing to do with off-field stuff.”
Neither explanation holds water. There is nothing the Roosters would have read about May that they didn’t know already.

There is no doubt May is different. The 25-year-old has a quirky sense of humour, one the public rarely sees. When Herald photographer Louise Kennerley asked to take a photo of him without his bum bag, he politely declined because he wanted to be seen as his authentic self. He’s also abstained from social media for long periods over concerns about how he will be portrayed.
“That’s just the way I am, all the boys know I just mock everything and I take nothing serious,” he said.

“I forget there are all these cameras now. It’s hard because I try to be myself on the camera as well, but it just doesn’t work out. It just always gets me in trouble, so just trying to stay away from that stuff.”
Suggestions he’s failed a character test at the Roosters are also off the mark. At a time when the club got heat for handing lifelines to Matt Lodge, Brandon Smith and Michael Jennings – each arrived at Bondi Junction hauling considerable baggage – May has given the club no cause for concern.

Indeed, such has been May’s rise that he played all 27 games for the Roosters this season, including an 80-minute performance at prop. If he wasn’t fully committed to rugby league, he wouldn’t have embarked on an off-season tour to England, to represent Samoa, while his wife was pregnant. He wouldn’t have been crowned the Rugby League Players’ Association inaugural impact player of the year if he wasn’t committed.
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Further, it makes little sense for the Roosters to be badmouthing a player when they’re trying to get another club to buy him.
So how did we get here?
The truth is that the Roosters roster is forward heavy, as evidenced by young gun Siua Wong struggling to crack first grade for most of last season. May’s style of play, viewed internally as being less compatible with the team’s future direction, coupled with holes in the roster that need filling, have conspired against him. Unfortunately for May, it has made him the player most dispensable.

On the cusp of Origin selection, May has plenty to offer and will ultimately find he fits in better somewhere else. The next chapter will only add to one of sport’s most intriguing stories. We shouldn’t be discouraging him from telling it.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.

After reading that, I'd be happy if we signed him

 

[webby66]

Get this young bloke in. Can play, and will enjoy his footy at Manly and grow as a man.

 

[Jay Eagle]

Come on Seibs have a discussion and make it happen

 

[reconeagle]

I agree if we can get May I reckon he would be a perfect fit with our squad and its culture! FYI I heard Bateman is not happening now supposedly!

 

[frank stokes]

Not looking much chance... I cant get through paywall but the blurb sayd StMerge, Bulldogs and Tigpies have met with May... doubt we can compete on coin with either of the last 2 and, besides, we can't sign him if we don’t even talk to him...

 

[Dion Johnson]

Not looking much chance... I cant get through paywall but the blurb sayd StMerge, Bulldogs and Tigpies have met with May... doubt we can compete on coin with either of the last 2 and, besides, we can't sign him if we don’t even talk to him...

Sydney Roosters prop Terrell May has held talks with St George Illawarra and Canterbury — and will meet the Wests Tigersnext week — as he mulls over a change of clubs.
May was stunned when he Roosters coach Trent Robinson told him that he was free to leave, despite having two years left on the deal he only signed earlier this year.

Rival clubs have wasted no time setting up meetings with the powerful front rower as he looks to make an immediate move to a new club.

The Dragons and Bulldogs have been the fastest to react but they won’t be the only interested parties – the Tigers’ interest is only likely to be enhanced after they missed out on the signature of Brisbane lock Kobe Hetherington.

The Tigers were optimistic they would add Hetherington to their ranks but Broncos coach Michael Maguire had other ideas and he will remain in Brisbane.

May made 27 appearances for the Roosters last season, won himself a contract extension and toured England with the Samoan side.

The Bulldogs are also in the throes of finalising a contract extension for centre Bronson Xerri after his stunning return to the game.

Xerri was one of the comeback stories of the NRL season, returning from a four-year drug ban to score 10 tries in 19 games as the Bulldogs became a force again under coach Cameron Ciraldo.

He is set to sign a multi-year deal to remain at the club.