Super League clubs alerted as £300,000 per year star made available

“Taylan May is departing the Penrith Panthers effective immediately and is seeking other opportunities,” the three-time NRL champions said in a statement released early this morning. “With respect to all parties, the club will make no further comment on the matter.”

Logo of Taylan May Super League

Many NRL teams as well as Super League teams will take note when Penrith Panthers formally released outside back Taylan May from his contract with the defending NRL champions, effective immediately.

In the wee hours of this morning, the three-time NRL champions made official his release, announcing, “Taylan May is departing the Penrith Panthers effective immediately and is seeking other opportunities.”

“The club will not be making any further comments on the matter, with respect to all parties involved.”
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The details of those “other opportunities” are now unknown, but the 22-year-old still faces a number of domestic abuse charges after entering a not guilty plea to three counts of stalking and violence that occurred earlier this year.

Super League fans will recognize May from his brother Tyrone, who plays for Hull KR, and from his participation in the World Club Challenge against Wigan, where he was denied a game-winning try in the closing seconds for the Panthers.

After establishing himself as one of the NRL’s most promising players in 2023, he inked a contract deal worth $1.2 million for the next two seasons, extending his stay until 2026.

Taylan May is still an extraordinary talent, even though there is an ongoing legal problem that needs to be resolved before any decisions are made regarding his rugby league career.

So remarkable that Penrith was willing to give him the equivalent of little over £300,000 year for a two-year contract in order to keep his skills; according to The Daily Telegraph, this payment was foregone as part of a settlement between the club and player.

The two parties got into a legal battle over the $1.2 million transaction that was inked back in March, and according to The Telegraph, a private settlement had been struck.

It may be a while before we see May on a rugby league field again, as he has paid off and is scheduled to appear in court in March 2025 over the four offenses he has been charged with.

But there’s a potential that when he comes back, it will be in Super League, where a number of disgraced NRL players have moved to England in an attempt to clear their names and step away from the limelight. He has already talked about Super League as a potential opportunity.

Because of this, a number of Super League officials will be maintaining keep an eye on that trial in March of next year, as in professional sports, morality is sometimes subordinated to talent.

One such player who left the NRL and Australia due to personal legal issues was Tyrone, Taylan’s brother. Tyrone joined the Catalans for the 2022 season after Penrith benched him due to remarks he made on social media about past offenses, for which he was spared jail time and sentenced to 300 hours of community service.

John Davidson and Rugby League Hub have revealed this morning that Taylan May is in fact in England, where he is training with the Hull KR youth team. According to those sources, the club has expressed no desire to sign May and promote him to the Super League.