'This smells': Roosters great bewildered by 'desperate' Terrell May move
NRL great Bryan Fletcher is at a loss as to why the Sydney Roosters have granted prop Terrell May permission to join a rival club for next season.
On Thursday, Nine and Sydney Morning Herald journalist Michael Chammas reported that the Roosters had granted May permission to split from the club, effective immediately. It's been reported elsewhere the Chooks may be planning to offer Ben Hunt a short-term contract after he was let go by the Dragons.
Having re-signed with the Roosters in April, it was thought front-rower May would serve as the long-term successor to Jared Waerea-Hargreaves for 2025 and beyond.
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Terrell May of the Roosters attempts to break through. Getty
May's numbers this season stacked up with some of the league's best props and with Waerea-Hargreaves finishing up with the club at the end of the season, the reasoning for the Roosters' decision has been questioned.
"This smells," Fletcher told SEN's The Run Home With Joel and Fletch on Thursday.
"I don't know [what's happening] but you've got no Jared next year so they need some punch up front.
"Something's gone on here."
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The likes of Victor Radley, Lindsay Collins and Nat Butcher are signed to the Tricolours until the end of 2027 but Fletcher is still sceptical given May's star power.
It is thought that the Roosters are trying to free up salary cap space to make moves in the player market but having offloaded Joseph Suaalii, Joseph Manu, Luke Keary and Sitili Tupouniua, there is already a bit of wriggle room.
"They're saying they need to free up some salary cap. Are they going for a big gun?" Fletcher said.
"Is it a Papi (Ryan Papenhuyzen)?
"Is there someone coming and they need to free up [their salary cap] desperately?"
Sources with knowledge of the situation told the Herald on the condition of anonymity that the Roosters feel that May no longer fits into plans for the future.
Speaking on 2GB's Wide World of Sports, Chammas described the resolve as "a line in the sand moment" but stated that he was not aware of any incident triggering the split.
"People are quick to jump to conclusions and say that something must have happened," he said.
"From my understanding, there has been no incident, there has been no off-field misdemeanour that has led to this.
"It is simply a football decision that's going to lead to Terrell May most likely finding an opportunity at a rival club for 2025."
May's deal with the Tricolours was worth around $950,000 over two years, prompting Chammas to weigh up the monetary factor.
"It's probably going to work out best for both parties — the Roosters want to move in a different direction [and] perhaps [May] doesn't fit in culturally with what they're trying to do," he said.
"But Terrell, I think he gets more than [$450,000 per season] on the open market.
"He may end up somewhere else in the $500,000 or even cracking $600,000 a season."
