Robo interview

[Bates]

I may be going against the grain here, but I sometimes found May’s style frustrating. He sort of lumbered into the line and always turned his back on the defence. On the other hand he seemed to go long minutes and had a good offload.

Fair enough mr.

Differing opinions makes it interesting!

May is 25. Props reach their prime around 28. He's definitely tracking to play rep footy imo.

He'll be playing against and not with us when he's at his best which is a shame as we've contributed to his development.

[bondi paul]

Even though Robbo says nothing I prefer he not engage with any of the scumbag journos and the same with the players including pathetic cry for help podcasters.

[mightyrooster]

That paragraph really bothers me. What BS!

If you're going to let a player of Mays calibre go at least have the balls and enough respect for the fans to be honest.

I may be going against the grain here, but I sometimes found May’s style frustrating. He sort of lumbered into the line and always turned his back on the defence. On the other hand he seemed to go long minutes and had a good offload.

[Bates]

@DaveRic1[/URL]
3 min read
November 30, 2024 - 5:00AM


David Riccio: Everyone is fascinated to see how the Roosters go with so many changes to the roster.

Trent Robinson: “Yeah. That’s the excitement for us, there’s always that continual improvement as a team. You’re trying to look for a new edge in the way that you play and there’s often opportunity that arises from this. People are talking a lot about what’s not here, but that means there’s space for some of these guys that have been coming along for a few years to move into.’’

DR: On the outside we see that you’ve lost a host of experienced players and key players have moved on. With that, there have been fans and commentators writing you off for 2025 - that you won’t make the top eight. What’s your reaction to that?

TR: “That’s how people view it from the outside, we like to predict what the end is going to look like and how they’re (Roosters) going to perform and that’s the beauty of sport. But that holds no weight for anything that we’re doing. It’s purely we believe in our young guys that are coming into the squad, there’s time now for those guys that have played none, one, two, or three games to play a lot of games. There’s also leadership roles for guys that weren’t leaders to move into that. And then the reset is, what do we believe in and how should we play? If you’re sitting and waiting for a prediction at the end of September then you don’t create change. So our whole thing is what changes do we need to make, and what do we need to hold onto?’’

DR: One big change was moving Terrell May on. That was a big call.

TR: “They’re difficult ones. Terrell is a really good player, that’s why I played him so many games this year. But it does give opportunity for some guys underneath that to play more and Terrell isn’t going to have trouble finding a club, the quality that he plays with.”

DR: What was the reason behind the decision?

TR: “He’s not a bad character, he hasn’t done anything wrong. I think that has been thrown out there. He’s been a value-add for our group and there’s just some small bits there around how we want to play. We felt like it was time to move in a different direction and express that to Terrell. But the difficult thing is that people have questioned his character and that shouldn’t be the case.”

DR: Robbo, you said there’s a chance for some players to step up in the leadership space, who are you looking for there?

TR: “Teddy is obviously our captain and has been there for a long time and we had vice captains in Jared (Waerea-Hargreaves) and (Luke) Keary, and they’ve both gone. We then had a playing group that had leaders in there like Angus (Crichton) and Connor (Watson), Nat Butcher, Lindsay Collins and Victor Radley, so it’s time for those guys to take that extra responsibility. Which they’re ready for.”

DR: Your outside backs appear inexperienced without Joey Manu, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, and Michael Jennings. Who will you be turning too in 2025?

TR: “Robert Toia, Billy Smith, Mark Nawaqanitawase, and then additional development from Dom Young, in his second year with us and Junior Pauga played some really good footy last season. People have been talking about what’s not here, but we haven’t been caught short on that. We knew what was coming through and we’ve decided to back those guys now because we believe in them.’’

DR: Billy Smith and Rob Toia, they’ve had a tough couple of years with injury, how are they tracking in being ready for round one, 2025?

TR: “They’re ready to go and we’ve been patient with them because we believe in them.’’

DR: I remember chatting to Teddy (Tedesco) in Las Vegas at the start of the year and he was nothing but confident about his year ahead largely due to his ability for the first time in a while, to have surgery-free, injury-free pre-season preparation. Do you anticipate he’ll get that same runway into 2025?

TR: “He’ll start almost exactly the same time (as last year) a few weeks before Christmas. I think we saw the physical state he was in then, and he’s as focused and as driven as ever.”

That paragraph really bothers me. What BS!

If you're going to let a player of Mays calibre go at least have the balls and enough respect for the fans to be honest.

[Rooster_6]

And all the other Penrith boys who joined the tigers are shit because they didn’t go to higher clubs?

Lmao such a bad take man.

If anyone knows shit, it's the Tigers.

[Rooster_6]

It was odd, we wanted Gagai but not Holmes.

800k for Holmes who was looking for a multi year deal
400k for Gagai who was looking for a one year deal

There's so much more than talent alone to consider when weighing up a signing. Signing a player like Holmes on a big multi year contract at 29yrs of age is not smart business given the talent we have coming through the ranks right now.

[Rooster_6]

He said everything we would have expected him to say. Are you telling me that if there was a quality centre on the market for 2025 that we wouldn’t be in the market for him.

I didn't expect him to say Terrell May would be released due to his style of play.. I certainly didn't see anyone predicting such a thing for the last month. I think most would've expected him to say something a long the lines of he's been released for not meeting the standards of the club..

We would obviously be in for a top tier centre but he's not speaking in hypotheticals, the question now would be are we looking at bringing any any signings to build depth in our three-quarter line and the answer seems to be a pretty solid no based on that interview.

[theGman]

Terrell has the biggest engine of all our front rowers, he played a few games in 2024 where he played 60+ minutes and on a couple of occasions (including a test match for Samoa) he played the full 80 minutes as opposed to Spencer and Cheese who are gassed after 10 minutes. I cannot fathom what their rationale for letting him go is, he does things on a footy field that the likes of Nat Butcher are never going to do be able to achieve. He has a quality offload, runs unique lines that cause confusion in the opposition defence and a super low error rate. I'll never understand why we kept the Butchers (neither of whom would pull the skin off a custard) and let T-May go. It was earlier this year Butcher was on the cusp of finally being dropped due to poor form, but instead we'll promote him to the leadership group and let one of our best players go.

Agree with what you say FC however, he was becoming a negative influence on the younger cubs.
Aubbo is the new broom and new brooms sweep clean.

[ChookMaster]

I think that May ending up at the Tigers tells a story that we don’t know

If he was as good as some are making him out to be bigger clubs would have been fighting to grab him.

And all the other Penrith boys who joined the tigers are shit because they didn’t go to higher clubs?

Lmao such a bad take man.

[Bates]

Terrell has the biggest engine of all our front rowers, he played a few games in 2024 where he played 60+ minutes and on a couple of occasions (including a test match for Samoa) he played the full 80 minutes as opposed to Spencer and Cheese who are gassed after 10 minutes. I cannot fathom what their rationale for letting him go is, he does things on a footy field that the likes of Nat Butcher are never going to do be able to achieve. He has a quality offload, runs unique lines that cause confusion in the opposition defence and a super low error rate. I'll never understand why we kept the Butchers (neither of whom would pull the skin off a custard) and let T-May go. It was earlier this year Butcher was on the cusp of finally being dropped due to poor form, but instead we'll promote him to the leadership group and let one of our best players go.

This.

I rate May ahead of Collins. I get it if we signed JFH or Leota.

May was not released based on his ability or effort imo. He couldn't have been!

[MKCS]

He said everything we would have expected him to say. Are you telling me that if there was a quality centre on the market for 2025 that we wouldn’t be in the market for him.

It was odd, we wanted Gagai but not Holmes.

[Funky Chicken]

The insights I got were...

- We knew about various holes a while back and have backed our youth.

- Billy and Toia are good to go. They're both fit and will play footy.

- Teddy's in great shape again.

- We've re-jigged our leadership group to include Gus, Watson, Butcher, Collins and Radley. This is evolutionary rather than revolutionary but shows there's solid succession plans in place. Surprise is the wrong word but there's a few in there who we've confirmed are now part of a long-term plan (including Nat, Crichton and Watson who had some uncertainty over their heads for a while there).

- May was released because his playing style wasn't the fit we wanted (guessing we want guys who play longer minutes and are a bit more consistent). It was a difficult call.

---

IDK - haters gonna hate. I thought it was a good interview that has informed my understanding of where we're looking for 2025.

Terrell has the biggest engine of all our front rowers, he played a few games in 2024 where he played 60+ minutes and on a couple of occasions (including a test match for Samoa) he played the full 80 minutes as opposed to Spencer and Cheese who are gassed after 10 minutes. I cannot fathom what their rationale for letting him go is, he does things on a footy field that the likes of Nat Butcher are never going to do be able to achieve. He has a quality offload, runs unique lines that cause confusion in the opposition defence and a super low error rate. I'll never understand why we kept the Butchers (neither of whom would pull the skin off a custard) and let T-May go. It was earlier this year Butcher was on the cusp of finally being dropped due to poor form, but instead we'll promote him to the leadership group and let one of our best players go.

[Bates]

I think that May ending up at the Tigers tells a story that we don’t know

If he was as good as some are making him out to be bigger clubs would have been fighting to grab him.

Gus Gould isn't silly!

[Tennessee Tornado]

I think that May ending up at the Tigers tells a story that we don’t know

If he was as good as some are making him out to be bigger clubs would have been fighting to grab him.

[Mad_Rooster_in_GraceLand]

The insights I got were...

- We knew about various holes a while back and have backed our youth.

- Billy and Toia are good to go. They're both fit and will play footy.

- Teddy's in great shape again.

- We've re-jigged our leadership group to include Gus, Watson, Butcher, Collins and Radley. This is evolutionary rather than revolutionary but shows there's solid succession plans in place. Surprise is the wrong word but there's a few in there who we've confirmed are now part of a long-term plan (including Nat, Crichton and Watson who had some uncertainty over their heads for a while there).

- May was released because his playing style wasn't the fit we wanted (guessing we want guys who play longer minutes and are a bit more consistent). It was a difficult call.

---

IDK - haters gonna hate. I thought it was a good interview that has informed my understanding of where we're looking for 2025.

May out of all our props (apart from Lindsay at peak fitness) down to play next season could play the longest minutes, he just not as agro as some of the others. Plus he had footwork, an offload and a decent before the line ball.......a very expansive attacking playing style for a prop. Which seemed to fit in with our helter skelter attacking style of last season. However, he on what he displayed in 2023 was not a firebrand enforcer type. However, I recall in 2022 he did show he had a bit of agro about him. One the defensive side of things I think he he did ok too.

I just feel he might be too similar to a few of the young ones coming through (who may have bigger ceilings) and being 25 and on a few more dollars might have been the weakest link. Or maybe we are going to go back to boring and safe footy as no Walker until the second half of the season and so May was not a good fit.

If we were to let someone go for not being consistent and not able to play more minutes that would have been Spencer.