Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

Westoz said:

“SHOOSH​

Which struggling NRL club has been making discreet inquiries around the future of Maroons forward Tino Fa’asuamaleaui at the Gold Coast Titans. Tino has a get-out clause that comes into effect in November.”

This better be us
Click to expand...
Will probably never happen but a man can dream. Imagine the potential starting team in 2026 if, by some miracle, Luai convinced Tino to sign with us.

1. Bula
2. Turuva
3. Makasini
4. To’a
5. May
6.Luai
7. Latu
8. May
9. Api
10. Pole
11. Sam Fainu
12. KPP
13. Tino
 
Westoz said:

“SHOOSH​

Which struggling NRL club has been making discreet inquiries around the future of Maroons forward Tino Fa’asuamaleaui at the Gold Coast Titans. Tino has a get-out clause that comes into effect in November.”

This better be us
Click to expand...

Someone posted we were enquiring about him on here yesterday, can't recall who it was but they mentioned the Samoan connection. Love him here see how we go would def be a needle mover signing.
 
BlackWhiteGold said:

Terrell May in talks with Wests Tigers over contract extension beyond 2027​

Terrell May is just eight months into a three-year deal with the Wests Tigers, but the club have already begun talks to extend their star forward beyond 2027. PLUS see how Benji Marshall got his man.

Brent ReadBrent Read

The Wests Tigers have begun informal talks with Terrell May over a contract extension – only a matter of months after he inked a three-year deal with the club following his shock departure from the Sydney Roosters.
May has been one of the Tigers’ shining stars this season and it is understood the club and his manager David Rawlings have held initial talks over extending his contract beyond 2027.

The Tigers’ desire to extend May’s deal comes as the powerhouse prop prepares to face his former club for the first time since his surprise exit late last year.

May was cut loose by the Roosters in the off-season despite having two years remaining on his deal with the club. No-one saw it coming, not least May himself.

The Roosters loss has turned into a huge gain for the Tigers. May has been among the leaders in the Dally M medal all season – he was four points off the pace when the voting went behind closed doors after round 12.

The Tigers couldn’t be happier with his contribution and are ready to show their commitment to May by discussing a new deal.

“He wants to extend his contract,” Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson said.

“We’ll take our time and work our way through it. He wants to finish his career with us. We want that too.

“He’s a great bloke. He’s a good leader and he’s been nothing but positive for the club since he came here. He’s been a great buy.”


THE ROOSTERS

It has been eight long months since May’s time at the Roosters was brought to a rapid-fire end via a phone call from coach Trent Robinson while he was on tour with Samoa in England.

May explained his shock on the The Bye Round podcast with James Graham late last year, saying he was blindsided by the news.

“Getting that phone call from Robbo, I was thinking of all the good things,” May said.

“I must be getting a call saying ‘I’m so happy for you’ all that stuff or that ‘you did us proud’. But to get that call it was just a 180 of what I thought the original call was going to be, I was just in shock.

“I didn’t digest it all until like a week later.”

The Roosters insisted at the time that they were moving in another direction and the decision was made with the salary cap in mind.

There were private claims that May didn’t fit in with the culture at the Roosters, although no-one at the club has publicly confirmed as much and the Tigers’ experience suggests those claims are wide of the mark.

The Tigers couldn’t be happier with his contribution, his standing reflected in the decision to make him part of the leadership group alongside other senior figures at the club.

The Roosters, meanwhile, have put the money saved on May to good use. In the wake of his departure, the club has handed Naufahu Whyte an extension and Egan Butcher a new deal.

They have done the same with Taylor Losalu and elevated impressive Salesi Foketi into the top 30. Young forward Itula Seve has also been upgraded.

Where the decision to let May go looked like an aberration as the Roosters laboured earlier in the year, the club can now point to the emergence of their young pack as vindication.

BENJI AND GOLF

When May was weighing up his future in the off-season, he sat down with three clubs – the Bulldogs, the Dragons and the Wests Tigers.

Ultimately, it was Benji Marshall who got the deal done. He did it by assuring May that his family would come first, pointing to his own experiences amid the criticism he copped early in his coaching career for taking a family holiday to Fiji when the club was on the bye.

“I think Benji asked a lot of questions of Terrell from a family point and a rugby league point,” May’s manager David Rawlings said.

“Benji did a really good job with that continual reconnection back to family. Benji was able to talk about his own way.

“You guys gave him a bit of a kick in the arse for wanting to go to Fiji during the year last year so he could have time with family.

“He used that as an example that if I am doing it, if I am walking the walk, then I am not going to say to you that you can’t do it if it is what you need.

“Sitting down with Benji, that conversation with Terrell was really powerful for him. That was probably the deciding factor.”

A move to the Tigers also allowed May to be close to home – he recently purchased a house in St Claire and had a young family.

The other factor that played into the Tigers’ hands was the presence of Jarome Luai, who May knew well.

“Having Jarome come through was probably another fairly important factor,” Rawlings said.

Ultimately though, it was Marshall who held sway. While Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo was joined by head of football Phil Gould when he met May, and Dragons coach Shane Flanagan had his head of football Ben Haran beside him, Marshall pitched on his own.

“He just wanted to come to us,” Richardson said.

“It all happened pretty quick. The main thing was Benji. There is no way in the world we would have recruited Terrell without Benji.

“There’s no doubt he wanted to play for Benji – he understands family and the thing about family was huge for Terrell.”

FAMILY FIRST

Family is everything to May. He has made it clear from day dot that one day he would like to play alongside his brothers Tyrone and Taylan in the NRL.

That wasn’t going to happen at the Roosters but it may yet happen at the Tigers. This weekend Taylan May will make his debut for the club in the NSW Cup.

His journey to the Tigers has been littered with potholes, having parted ways with Penrith and spent time in a treatment centre.

Yet he will move one step closer to playing alongside Terrell in the NRL when he plays 40 minutes in reserve grade, sharing time with Tigers young gun Haemasi Makasini.

Provided Taylan can stay on the straight and narrow, and become the player he was before he had time out of the game, it seems a matter of when not if they play together.

Tyrone is a different story. He recently extended his deal in England – where he plays with Super League side Hull KR – until the end of 2027.

The Tigers took a look but the door has seemingly closed for the time being. Not that the Tigers are complaining.

Their recruitment and retention has been under the microscope of late after the departures of Tallyn da Silva and Lachlan Galvin, but there can be no criticism over the signing of Terrell May.

He has been a revelation.

“The young players, especially the forwards look up to him,” Richardson said.

“He’s a great trainer and has a great attitude. We did our homework when he left the Roosters. They decided he wasn’t a Rooster.

“He’s become a Tiger and we’re happy about it.”
Click to expand...
You can build a club around May and the Fainu's lock them all up long term.
 
Looking at the 3 grades this weekend we have good depth in the backs. Yes, Luke Luailli was poor but he isn't a centre. Wing or Fullback.

It would be nice to sort the Bula & Doueihi situation out asap but given Moses is his agent doubt he will want to.

After today I can see a few clubs having a go at Doueihi. Cowboys desperately need a halves partner for Dearden & Payten managed by Moses...

Tavana needs a development deals for next year but again he is another back.

We need to go to market for forwards.

1. Bula / L Luailli
2. Turuva / Tui'itupou*
3. To'a / Mason
4. Makasini / Skelton
5. Ta May* / Staines*
6. Luai / Mapapalangi*
7. La Fainu / Sullivan* / Falls*
8. Te May / K Luailli
9. Api / Hope*
10. Pole / Hunt
11. Sa Fainu / El-Zakhem*
12. Pearce-Paul / Sukkar
13. Twal / Rahme*
14. Doueihi* / Murray*
15. Seyfarth / Saukuru
16. Si Fainu / Broederlow
17. Bird / Porter*

Other's - Lobb*, Faataape*, Naden*

* I believe unsigned for next year.

Plenty of top 30 room (I think we have 23 now, including Sullivan but not including Ta May) & 5 development spots.
 
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