Terminator May clearing path to NSW Origin debut

"He's had a massive impact on this side. The club's going up at the moment and he's added heaps to our team. What he does every week, he runs hard, tackles hard, plays the full 80 when he can and just does everything for the team."

"It's hard playing in the middle, you get stuck in the washing machine so to play 80 minutes and then 85 minutes last week, it's crazy how he does it.

While Origin matches are played at a breakneck speed, Tigers forward Sione Fainu said May's playing style is perfectly suited to the frenetic pace of the interstate series.

May has another chance to press his claims for a Blues call up when the Wests Tigers take on St George Illawarra in a Saturday-night Magic Round showdown at Suncorp Stadium.

The performances have seen the front rower rocket into NSW Blues calculations and he appears likely to figure in coach Laurie Daley's plans for the upcoming series.

May has been dubbed the Terminator after a dominant start to the season that has seen him average more than 72 minutes across eight games and set the tone up front for his club and climb to second on the Dally M leaderboard.

Terrell May's Wests Tigers teammates have backed the prop to reproduce his lung-busting endurance efforts in the State of Origin arena.

May has produced consistent standout performances throughout the opening two months of the season but took his game to another level last week when he produced one of the all-time performances by a prop in the Tigers golden-point victory over the Sharks.

The front rower played a mammoth 84 minutes, running for 228 metres, with three tackle breaks and 74 post-contact metres. He was also a rock defensively, making a staggering 42 tackles without missing any and produced a crucial charge down late in the contest.

Coach Benji Marshall later revealed May was disappointed to be given a brief breather late in the second half. He has already produced two 80-minute performances this season.

According to stats compiled by rugby league historian David Middleton, May stands head and shoulders above his front-row rivals when it comes to minutes played this season.

The Tigers prop is the only player to average more than 70 minutes a match. Brisbane duo Pat Carrigan and Payne Haas sit second and third, with 65.5 and 61.3 minutes respectively.

Dragons prop Toby Couchman, who May will take on this weekend, is fourth on the list with 60.6 minutes before Jack Williams, who averages 60 minutes from the two games he's played this season.

The ability for both Haas and May to play big minutes during State of Origin could give Daley more flexibility with his selections in other positions for the upcoming series.

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The coach is keeping his cards close to his chest as he prepares to finalise his squad but said club form will be a factor in picking his team.

"You take it into consideration," Daley told NRL.com. "You take everything into consideration. You take into consideration their form, what they've done in the jumper in the past, whether they've delivered on the big stage.

"You want them going in with a bit of confidence so all those factors play a part. Club form is definitely up there, you want to be playing good football coming into an Origin series."

May's arrival at the Tigers came amid murky circumstances after he was abruptly cut loose by the Roosters in November despite signing a contract extension midway through last year.

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Marshall jumped at the opportunity to sign one of the best props in the game and the 26-year-old hasn't disappointed.

May has played a key role in the Tigers resurgence this year, setting the platform up front for Jarome Luai and Lachlan Galvin to play off the back of.

Fainu played NSW Cup alongside May in 2021 for Blacktown City Workers when they were promising youngsters progressing through the Manly system and said it's no surprise the front rower has developed into one of the most dominant props in the game.

"It's crazy we've gone from Blacktown to the Tigers," Fainu said. "We were laughing about it when he first came here, we used to play together for Blacktown Workers and now we're on the big stage. To play together again is special.

"We knew what he'd bring to the Tigers. We saw what he did for the Roosters and what he's doing now, we knew we could get that from him."

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