Roosters assistant coach spills the beans on Trent Robinson's reasons for releasing Terrell May

Roosters assistant coach Justin Holbrook has shed new light on the NRL club's shock decision to release Terrell May, suggesting coach Trent Robinson was worried about holding back some of the team's young forwards. May was a mainstay in the Roosters' pack in 2024 and signed a two-year extension earlier in the year, only to be told after the season that he was no longer in coach Trent Robinson's plans going forward.

The 25-year-old revealed this week that he still doesn't fully understand why the Roosters released him to join the Wests Tigers next season. But May hit out at the club for leaving it until after the season to inform him of their decision and suggested it was a strategic move to stop him signing for one of the top teams - most of whom already had their rosters sorted for next year.

May says he received a confusing two-minute phone call from Robinson before Samoa's second Test against England in November, in which he was informed of the club's decision. The prop admits he was blindsided by what transpired, and was left questioning what he'd done wrong after going from a valued member of the squad to a player that was surplus to requirements within weeks.

Roosters prioritised other young forwards over Terrell May

Robinson has come out to deny that May's release had anything to do with an attitude problem or a specific incident that took place, simply putting it down to the club wanting to go in a different direction. And Holbrook told SEN radio that concerns about holding back the development of young Roosters forwards Siua Wong (21) and Naufahu Whyte (22) also factored into Robinson's shock call.

"I can definitely say there wasn't one big issue," Holbrook said. "There wasn't one incident that said 'he's gone' or anything like that. Obviously we re-signed him earlier in the year, he played every game for us and I think it was just a case of Trent (Robinson) sitting down at the end of the year, looked at our squad, looked at the changes needed and that was one of them.

"So there's nothing more behind that, we all know that Terrell's a first-grader, he's a good enough player and he'll get his chance at the Wests Tigers. But I guess as a club at the Roosters, we decided to make a change. Because we've got other guys coming through like Naufahu Whyte and Siua Wong and guys like that so I think Robbo looked at the roster and felt like he didn't want to hold any guys back or wanted to bring them on quicker."

Holbrook said May was a popular member of the Roosters playing group and dispelled any notions that his exit came down to an issue with his attitude. "We all liked him and as I said there's nothing wrong with his personality, it was just sort of a decision that Trent wanted to make for the squad and that was it," Holbrook added.

Terrell May hits out at Roosters after shock release

May said plenty of other clubs had shown interest in him before he initially re-signed with the Roosters earlier this year. And the 25-year-old believes the club's call to part ways with him after the season was a ploy to stop some of the NRL's heavyweight clubs from ultimately signing him.

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“I wanted to be a one-club man, but then when you come at the market at the back end, teams have already filled their top 30 so there’s no cap space and not many clubs chasing you,” May said. “That’s why I was a bit dirty. I was like, bro, you could have told me this ages ago when there were clubs that had money and cap space, but to do it right at the deadline, it was a bit strange.

"I felt like it was a strategy for him so I don’t go to certain clubs (like) Melbourne, Penrith. Penrith let go of Fish the week after I (re-signed with the Roosters) … and then they signed (Isaiah) Papali’i. They would have been looking for a front-rower. I felt like that was a strategy for him to make me not go to the top clubs. But like I said, I’m happy at the Tigers now and I get to go start a new journey there and be that alpha leading the packs."