Roosters called out over 'really poor' detail behind release of Tigers recruit Terrell May

Trent Robinson and the Roosters have been criticised for the timing of a phone call to Terrell May to inform the prop he was no longer part of the NRL club's plans moving forward. May admitted this week that he still doesn't fully understand why the Roosters released him to join the Wests Tigers next season but suggested Robinson and the club deliberately left it until after the season to inform him so he couldn't join a top club - most of which already had their rosters sorted for 2025.

The prop - who was one of the standout forwards for the Tri Colours and played in every game for the club in 2024 - 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.

Speaking on SEN radio on Wednesday morning, league reporter Michael Carayannis said the timing of Robinson's call to May was "really poor" and insisted the coach should have waited until after Samoa's Test series against England. "I think there's definitely a level of dissatisfaction and annoyance from the May camp about the fact they (Roosters) waited two days out from a Test match, when he's halfway around the world, without his family or support network," Carayannis said.

"If the Roosters made that decision then the Roosters made that decision but I think they should have waited until he came home... It was only a two-Test series, he was only two days away from playing a Test match. Could you imagine the Roosters if a player - for whatever the case may be - was told two days before a finals game that something like that would occur? There's no way Trent Robinson would ever allow that. So I think the timing of it was really poor.

"He's halfway around the world, without his family, you've told him two days out from a Test match... a big, big game. If the shoe was on the other foot, how would the Roosters react to any sort of distraction before a finals game? They'd blow up. So I think that's poor."

Carayannis applauded May for coming out and telling his side of the story and suggested the Roosters hadn't given a full explanation about why the prop was released as a way of protecting him. But the league reporter said he did not agree with May's theory that the Roosters left the call so late because they didn't want him joining a heavyweight rival.

"I think it's eventuated in their post-season reviews... I don't think with a month out from the end of the competition they're going 'no we're not letting him go to Penrith' or whatever the case may be," Carayannis added. "I think that was just an unfortunate timing for May. My only criticism is they did it when he was halfway around the world... there's no good way to do this, I get that, but wait until he's back. It was only a two-Test series, they were back early the following week, just wait until he's back.

Roosters prioritised other forwards over Terrell May

Roosters assistant coach Justin Holbrook revealed this week that May's release also related to Robinson not wanting to hold back the development of some of the team's young forwards. Considering the club had re-signed him for two more years earlier in the season and he was one of their best forwards in 2024, it was an eyebrow-raising move though.

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"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."