Terrell May approached to leave

[ChookMaster]

Signing a player isn’t directly asking someone to leave.

Angus was never going to swap sides. He said it himself.

[ChookMaster]

That was well after Crichton's health issues had been resolved and he had re-established himself in the side.

Poor comparison.

Why else would they’ve tried to sign Fifita?

[Rooster_6]

Well. The David Fifita saga says hello…….

That was well after Crichton's health issues had been resolved and he had re-established himself in the side.

Poor comparison.

[rented tracksuit]

Well. The David Fifita saga says hello…….

Signing a player isn’t directly asking someone to leave.

[rented tracksuit]

Well, they kind of did actually.

He is still there isn’t he?

who have they signed to replace him?

[ChookMaster]

Did the club kick Angus to the kerb last year when he was struggling and his head wasn’t in it? No.

Why is this any different?

Well. The David Fifita saga says hello…….

[Bansai Pipeline]

Did the club kick Angus to the kerb last year when he was struggling and his head wasn’t in it? No.

Why is this any different?

Well, they kind of did actually.

[ism22]

FWIW Cheese has had a chat about it on James Graham's poddie. His take is...

- (First on Cheese).... he's injured, wants to stay and hasn't talked to other clubs (partly because he's injured). He also hasn't even talked to Robbo about his future so talk of him being encouraged to leave is all immature. Says his partner's ingrained in the club's culture and they're living the dream though... no desire to leave. My crystal ball says he'll either be offered an option to stay for less or take this injury as a chance to reboot, show good attitude for his recovery and earn an extension on return.

- May is as straight as a nail... doesn't drink and doesn't go out partying. Has a bit of a sense of humour but everybody loves it. Cheese is 100% certain there's been no incidents and his form (which has been terrific) is not an issue.

- Ben Hunt then comes into it. Cheese doesn't think he could play #7 with Walker at 6. Wasn't opposed to him playing #6 but emphasised it would be a really short-term move.

TBH it surprised me to see Cheese talking about this stuff and makes me wonder how the club feels about it. Guessing it's all been cleared but I dunno? IMO his allegiance must be 100% to us, not James Graham.

[Steggles]

Sounds like he could be blocking the rise of some young guys who the club believe have a higher long-term ceiling.

[The Brain]

Good skills.. as hard as a marshmellow

[rented tracksuit]

Did the club kick Angus to the kerb last year when he was struggling and his head wasn’t in it? No.

Why is this any different?

[The Lip]

it's all a bit weird this one - TM was really good for us last year on field and off didn't seem any problem either . If indeed Aubo was the driving force behind the axing as we have read i don't think any of us has ever had a bad word to say about him( except for when he was picked at 5/8 all those years ago) and it's hard to not trust the man.

Sometimes two good parties just don't fit together well even if they want to. Think i'm just going to let this one go as a head scratcher and trust all involved that they landed in the right outcome until more comes out to convince me otherwise.

[A Country Member]

Thanks for some common sense here mate. I was alluding to that in my earlier post. It really does sound like he has some mental health issues and the club has kicked him to the curb for being outspoken about it…

Disgusting act from the club and still NO statement.

I don’t see mental health issues, I see strength.

What I hear is the need to support family, from a Polynesian perspective. I’d say he’d be one of many NRL players in a similar situation.

There’s plenty of jobs out there where the pay is good and the job is shit. I’m sure people doing those jobs consider throwing it in and doing a regular, less shit job.

Footy clubs are different. They’re employers and team focused and it’s a year by year scenario. The coach would be feeling the pressure despite coming third this year. He would realise that change needs to be made to overcome Penrith and Melbourne, whilst keeping ahead of the chasing pack.

[ChookMaster]

I'm pretty sickened by the club booting him for being honest about what 100% of people feel about their jobs.

If anything he sounds like he's slightly depressive. Good on him for being honest about his battles. I know I have the same ones.

Tyrell was a standout performer this season.

Despite his interview he put it and was among our best.

Trent is cooked.

Silly French buffoon of a bloke.

Thanks for some common sense here mate. I was alluding to that in my earlier post. It really does sound like he has some mental health issues and the club has kicked him to the curb for being outspoken about it…

Disgusting act from the club and still NO statement.

[milanja]

Adrian Proszenko[/URL][/B]
Chief Rugby League Reporter

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/nrl/...07-p5kol3.html


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.

Why did they upgrade his contract if the club knew he apparently didn’t suit future direction?

Something isn’t smelling right.