Laurie Daley under fire for brutal Terrell May act as new information comes to light

News.com.au

19-05-2025

The NRL world has torn into Laurie Daley after the NSW coach said Terrell May's form didn't warrant him being selected and revealed he hadn't reached out to the Tigers star to explain his reasoning.
May and Payne Haas have been the standout front rowers in 2025 and were widely expected to start for the Blues in their bid to retain the Origin Shield.
FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.
While Haas was selected, May wasn't. The 26-year-old is a big-minute player, averaging over 70 minutes a game, and his incredible impact on games sees him currently in third place on the Dally M leaderboard.
He also ranks first in the NRL for offloads and among NSW middles is second in average run metres and tackle busts only to Haas.
May was again a standout on the weekend against the Rabbitohs, playing 80 minutes in the middle, where he ran for 199 metres, made six tackle breaks, had three offloads and completed 63 tackles without a single miss.
However, despite being widely regarded as the second-best prop in the game behind Haas, Daley overlooked May for the series opener.
Instead, he went with Haas and Mitch Barnett as the starting front rowers with debutant Max King and Roosters wrecking ball Spencer Leniu on the bench and Stefano Utoikamanu in the reserves.
Explaining his decision on Monday, Daley simply said others were in better form than May, a peculiar statement given just how strong the Tigers prop has been.
'I just think the others are playing better (than him),' Daley said bluntly.
'Terrell's playing some really good football and like all the others he's just got to keep banging down the door and his opportunity will come at some stage.
'But we just thought at this stage in Game 1 that's the team we wanted to go with. Max deserves his chance and Stefano has really improved out of sight the past couple of weeks.'
Daley said he had not spoken to May, but the comments May made on Twitch about his snub, hinting at a defection, were not of concern to him.
The decision to not contact May is particularly peculiar given the fact Daley called the likes of Jarome Luai and Tom Trbojevic to explain why they ultimately missed out.
But fans were more caught up on Daley's reasoning for him not being selected, perplexed at how the Blues coach could believe any prop other than Haas had been better than him in 2025.
'Does by 'others' he mean Payne Haas. Because that's where the list stops,' one angry fan wrote on X.
'Daley is entitled to pick who he wants but to say that all the other props are playing better than Terrell May is a straight-out lie,' another wrote.
'Who? Payne Haas is the only one playing better than him. Maybe Mitch Barnett, maybe. Clown,' a third added.