It was a flashpoint on a night out that is the stuff of the NRL’s worst nightmares. A look into the price of fame of a big-time player.
When five internationals had to deal with a member of the public who pulled a knife on them – or, more specifically, on Tigers forward Terrell May.
Samoan quintet Jarome Luai, Brian To’o, Izack Tago, Blaize Talagi and May confronted a young man with a knife in the streets of Auckland last year. They were there preparing for a Pacific Championships match against New Zealand.
The incident has been kept quiet from the NRL and the Samoans. But it was the final straw for May, who left camp the next day.
He had other issues going on at home. He was worried about his little brother Taylan, who would have been in the squad but was ruled out with a hamstring injury. Taylan had been through his own troubles and Terrell didn’t feel right being away at that time.
But back to the night in question.
The players, all part of the Samoa squad, were having a peaceful dinner in Auckland at 7pm. The young man, perhaps aged about 17, recognised the players and made some remarks about Mt Druitt – the Western Sydney suburb some of the group are from.
His target was May, who is fiercely proud of where he grew up. May, who can handle himself, reacted by grabbing a stool to go after the knife-wielding youngster. It was instinctual. Fear and shock turned into anger, and he had to be held back by his teammates.
As a witness to the incident explained to me, there was a chance the teenager with the knife was going to find himself in danger from May.
The NRL said they did not know about the incident when asked for comment on Saturday.
That moment was not the worst thing to happen to May as part of that camp, and it’s not why he isn’t in the Samoan World Cup squad.
May wouldn’t go into the reasons for his absence when we contacted him to ask about the knife incident.
But what we have been told is that he has an ambition to captain the Tigers. To lead from the front. He is unhappy with what he gave the Tigers this year and genuinely believes he needs a big off-season to set himself up for 2027.
He also believes that, on form, he didn’t deserve to be part of the Samoa squad this time. May wants to focus on being a better player for Tigers coach Benji Marshall next year.
Bitter end for Tigers’ Luai era
The Wests Tigers are sick of Jarome Luai’s impact on their club and are hoping his no-show at the end-of-season awards night is the last time they need to deal with him.
Luai is braced for strategic leaks about his time at Concord, but it wasn’t the club that alerted the media to him not attending the presentation night – it was his own social media post.
What some in the Luai camp are wondering is why another key Tigers staffer – assistant coach Brett Hodgson – wasn’t at the awards night. Yes, Luai is a big figure, but so is Benji Marshall’s right-hand man.
In fairness to Hodgson, his family lives in France, and it is understandable he would want to see them after a long season. He didn’t want to hang around for the night. He did the same last year.
But Luai gets singled out, so it’s only fair to highlight the fact he wasn’t the only one who failed to front. And as far as we know, Hodgson still has an important role next year.
Defence coach John Morris was not present after being shoved out the door a few days prior, and no one would expect him to front.
The coach and his staff put their faith in Luai to establish a strong culture. Privately, Marshall believes that culture and the make-up of the playing group need to change.
The blow-up between Marshall and Adam Doueihi over a selection issue highlighted it.
It’s why the club is now trying to recruit “solid citizens” – like the Raiders’ Jayden Brailey. They should have a look at a homecoming for Manly five-eighth Luke Brooks. He’d probably return the barbecue they gifted him when he departed the club at the end of 2023.
The way Galvin was isolated by some at the Tigers has never been addressed, but there are those within the organisation who will privately concede it was wrong.
It was so bad that Galvin didn’t even want to entertain a $6 million, five-year offer from the Tigers and left for a three-and-a-half-year term at the Bulldogs worth about $700,000 a season. Some within the Tigers are calling it a textbook case of an inexperienced coach listening to his playing group.
Marshall is stubborn, but he knows change is needed. He’s the Tigers’ greatest player and a legend of the game.
His critics lean into the fact that in his 19 seasons at the club as a player and coach, he has reached the finals three times. He has the talent to work with, and he has time on his side with a bulletproof contract.
But the truth is out there and can’t be ignored.
Gal-den gloves
Sharks premiership-winning captain and former heavyweight boxer Paul Gallen is set to come out of retirement for a million-dollar fight against Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
Gallen has long maintained he is a prizefighter and the temptation of a seven-figure payday is too big to refuse.
The 45-year-old has been keeping in shape – he recently ran his first marathon – and he won’t take long to get fighting fit.
Gallen is understood to have sought permission from his bosses at Nine Entertainment, the owner of this masthead, as the network’s Stan Sport has had its own fight cards. This bout will be on a rival network, but Nine have cleared him to compete.
Asofa-Solomona will have an enormous size advantage. Gallen barely comes up to his chest, but he has heart and skill. Gallen knows he could get knocked into next week if he wears a Nelson punch.
Bold, Zane
Origin halves Nathan Cleary and Sam Walker are seven-figure No.7s, and they may be joined in the million-dollar club by an 11-game rookie if his agent gets his way.
Titans half Zane Harrison is a rising star who is humble and highly talented. The Titans want to keep him and are trying to swap or sell AJ Brimson.
The Titans have about $600,000 a season beyond 2028 for Harrison.
As part of negotiations, they want to pump him up now and next year to make his asking price more reasonable. Harrison’s agent Sam Ayoub thinks he can get $900,000 a year for his client to stay at the Titans, and more if he moves.
Harrison is a definite option for the Chiefs if he goes to market. The Titans’ cap is tight and that’s where moving Brimson on is a play. Brimson only wants to go to PNG but the Chiefs won’t come at his full price of $950,000. They are prepared to pay about $200,000 less than that.
Brimson has also been offered to rivals as a swap, but he may not want to leave the Titans.
Top Dog’s definitive moment
Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has slammed the year-long criticism of his team and paid tribute to the club’s general manager Phil Gould, saying he has never been more supportive in their 15-year professional association.
He also predicted the Bulldogs’ five-game losing streak this year will be the touchstone moment that defines their success in next year’s competition.
The Dogs coach gave an emotional and inspiring talk at the Bulldogs’ end-of-season awards night last week.
“People say that our slump defined our season, but it’s going to define our success in the future,” Ciraldo said.
“I’ll quote one of my heroes, Rocky Balboa: ‘It’s not about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward.’ We just kept getting hit and hit and hit during this period but what amazed me was the toughness of the playing group … I’m talking physical toughness, I’m talking mental toughness and the ability to keep moving forward.
“This is not about playing victim, it’s about toughness. Max King broke his jaw playing against Penrith and played almost a full game … Vili Kikau tore his pec against Brisbane and tried to play for another 10 to 15 minutes. Jacob Preston broke his arm a few weeks later and tried to stay on the field for another 10 minutes.
“Stephen Crichton returned four weeks early from AC injury in his shoulder to try and help the team. Jaeman Salmon had two surgeries on his finger and refused to miss a game. The hardest-working person in that time was our doctor … he put that many painkilling needles into players … I’ve never seen anything like it.
“They did it for their mates and as a coaching staff, we are eternally grateful for what you did. That period will not define our season – but it will define us going forward.”
Ciraldo took a swipe at the club’s critics.
“There is a lot of outside noise,” he said. “There is a lot of stuff these guys have to deal with. When they grew up dreaming of being NRL players they would not have thought about the shit they have had to deal with … the way they stuck together, blocked it out is a credit to the players.“
He singled out his GM for high praise: “Gus was at his absolute best this year … I’ve been working with him for 15 years and when all the outside noise was there, he was just so calm in the chaos. That allowed us to do our jobs.”
Eel deal
Junior Paulo’s contract stand-off with Parramatta has been twofold.
It’s over money. The captain will earn about $650,000 per season at the Eels, and that’s not meeting his expectations. Meanwhile, the club is not keen for him to play for Samoa at the World Cup as they feel his knee is not in good shape. Rival clubs say he has a chronic knee issue.
Meanwhile, there have been whispers that Viliame Kikau was considering pulling out of the Fiji side after a long season with the Bulldogs.
It’s now been explained to me that he picked up an ankle injury in the club’s last-round loss to the Broncos. Kikau is expected to miss next month’s World Cup next month. It’s a blow to Fiji, but no one at the Bulldogs is too upset. He is a vital part of the club’s push for a better season in 2027.
Code breach?
The NRL’s “Media Cop” has been quiet on News Corp using Nathan Cleary and the Penrith Panthers as part of an unauthorised and unpaid piece of ambush marketing.
But the ABC’s Media Watch has been looking into it. It’s unclear if the show will do a segment on it, but it has piqued their interest.
Last week, in an Instagram ambush, Code Sports filmed a commercial for a phone company showing players, other journalists and network branding with no benefit to the players, the Panthers or anyone else. It was a breach of the Rugby League Players Association’s collective bargaining agreement.
Senior rugby league journalist Brent Read filmed a commercial for the phone brand during time specifically set aside for media in the lead-up to last Sunday’s qualifying final against the Roosters.
The Panthers were given no prior warning. The video featured Cleary despite the fact he has no relationship with them or the brand News Corp were being paid to push.
News Corp clearly doesn’t care – they did another similar “influencer” video this week.
Three’s a crowd
Crowds – or lack of them – were a big focus during the opening week of the NRL finals.
Clearly, the trip to CommBank Stadium for the Sunday clash with Penrith didn’t appeal to Roosters fans.
As our photo shows, there were no Roosters fans to be seen around their merchandise truck outside the stadium, while a long queue of Panthers fans waited patiently to purchase gear from a van next door.
Maybe the Roosters supporters had bought their merchandise already.
The problems continued for fans on Friday night at the NRLW. The food venues at Campbelltown Stadium were all shut during the Tigers-Raiders elimination final. The only way fans could get a bite was at two food trucks outside the ground. That may need to change in the future.
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