Taylan 'Tiny' May (born 19 August 2001) is a Samoa international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a er for the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penri ...

in the NRL.

Background

He played junior rugby league for the Minchinbury Jets

Playing career

2021

In round 21 of the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

, May made his debut for Penrith against the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

2022

In round 3 of the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...

, May scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

in Penrith's 38-20 victory over

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. The following round against South Sydney in the Grand Final rematch, he scored two tries in Penrith's 26-16 win. In the 2022 Qualifying Final, May was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous high tackle and later suffered a hamstring injury in Penrith's 27-8 victory over

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

. May missed Penrith's 2022 NRL Grand Final victory over

due to injury. In October May was named in the Samoa squad for the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £ ...

. In the third group stage match at the

, May scored four tries for Samoa in their 62-4 victory over France.

2023

On 18 February, May played in Penrith's 13-12 upset loss to St Helens RFC in the 2023 World Club Challenge. On 20 February, it was confirmed that May would miss the entire

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season is the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams For the 2023 season, the number of teams in the NRL has increased from sixteen to seventeen with the ...

after tearing his ACL during Penrith's World Club Challenge loss.

Personal life

On April 6, 2022, May was charged by Queensland police with assault occasioning bodily harm. The charge relates to an incident that occurred in November 2021, while May was on leave following the 2021 NRL season. He is 1-0 in his professional boxing career, fighting on the undercard of Paul Gallen against Darcy Lussick, beating

hooker

Freddy Lussick Freddy Lussick (born 28 August 2000) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL). He previously played for the Sydney Roosters and the St. George Illawarra Dragons ...

. On 31 August 2022, May was found guilty of assaulting a man which occurred following Penrith's

2021 NRL Grand Final The 2021 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2021 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Sunday 3 October at Suncorp Stadiu ...

victory. May was ordered to pay a $1000 fine and no criminal conviction was recorded. On 7 September, May was suspended for two matches by the NRL and fined, however May's suspension was backdated until the start of the 2023 NRL season which meant he was allowed to participate in the 2022 finals series. He is the brother of rugby league players Tyrone May and Terrell May. He plays under the name 'Tiny May' for

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

References

External links

Penrith Panthers profileSamoa profile
2001 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Taylan Penrith Panthers players Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Blacktown Samoa national rugby league team players {{Samoa-rugbyleague-bio-stub