In the lead up to Wests Tigers’ clash with Melbourne, Terrell May did not eat for three days.
“No one knows this, just the boys and the coaches, but I fasted for three days last week,” May says.
“There’s heaps of benefits to a 72-hour fast. I just feel like I needed my body to reset.
“Just water, and I had black coffee here and there to stave off my hunger. I don’t know if that’s normal for people.
“Day two is the worst; you feel lazy and hungry, not focused. But once day three comes, it’s like you’re a new person. You actually feel more focused.”
Not that the benefits were immediately apparent.
“Whatever the benefits,” May adds, referencing last weekend’s 64-0 capitulation to the Storm, “It didn’t benefit me because we still got pumped.”
May, who describes his current weight of 115kg as being a touch on the heavy side, has not always been so fastidious with his diet. During one of his sabbaticals from football, the Tigers prop put on 25 kilograms in two months, blowing out to 135kg.
There was nothing high performance about his nutritional regime at the time.
“My breakfast would be a Macca’s dinner box – like the breakfast one – and then for lunch I would have a Hungry Jack’s box, and then in between that I would have like $50 worth of chocolates, lollies and chips,” he says.
“Then for dinner I’d eat whatever my family’s eating.”
Terrell May is one of the form props in the NRL.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Sometimes the Maccas family bundle wasn’t enough on its own.
“Four burgers, four chips, four drinks, 20 nuggets,” he says. “And then I’ll get apple pie and sundaes, too. That was lunch.
“Breakfast was four McMuffins, four drinks, four orange juices, four hash browns.”
Those burger-munching days are a thing of the past. May has embraced a lean, animal-based diet, free of seed oils and unnatural sugars. Instead of energy drinks, the 26-year-old turns to coconut water mixed with raw honey and Celtic salt. Never a big drinker, he recently marked four years without touching alcohol.
“I try to stay healthy because if I’m eating good and prepping my body for a long game, it’s going to be the best outcome,” he says.
Those lifestyle choices have had a profound effect. May has made a wildly successful transition from the Roosters to the Tigers, to the point where he is arguably the form prop in the NRL alongside Payne Haas.
There have even been calls for May and Haas to be the starting front-rowers for NSW in the Origin series.
“It is one of my goals I have,” May says of the prospect of a Blues debut. “You’re not just playing for a team, you’re playing for the whole state.
“I always dreamed of just playing one NRL game, but to be in the conversations, and seeing if I’m actually going to make it for my state, I feel like I’m playing for something more than just my family and myself.
“I feel like I’m playing for the whole state and whoever goes for the Blues.”
Sitting second on the Dally M Medal leaderboard behind only Will Kennedy, May has made a compelling case for selection. He averages 172 metres and 40 tackles a game at an efficiency of 97.4 per cent. There isn’t a prop in the game that comes close to his average game time of 72.7 minutes.
A Blues debut would mean so much to the May family that father Jay, who has a fear of flying, is prepared to board a plane to attend the opening match at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
Terrell May has been a revelation for the Tigers since his shock release by the Roosters.Credit: Getty Images
“Obviously it would mean a lot to me, but emotionally for my dad and my parents, they’ve worked so hard to just get their kids into the NRL and that was always a goal for them, for one of us to play in the State of Origin,” May says.
“And that’s the only game that will probably make him cry, seeing me in that jersey.”
There are other motivating factors behind May’s stunning form surge. All his life, people have told the Mount Druitt product that he won’t make it. At school, teachers predicted he wouldn’t have a career in rugby league, and he didn’t make the 30-man squad at Patrician Brothers’ College Blacktown.
Then there are the haters on social media, where May is active with his vlogs and gaming channel.
“I’ve had a bigger ‘why’ this year – to prove everyone wrong and to prove myself wrong, that I was better than what I am,” he says.
“I just feel like I have a lot to prove, not to just myself, but to all the people that doubted me before I went to the Tigers.
“All the people that were saying stuff about me, each week I go into it trying to prove those haters wrong, so it’s been good.”
And then there’s the Roosters. For reasons that have never been properly articulated, the Tricolours chose to cut the Samoan international free. It’s a decision that has provided even more motivation.
“They’re another big reason why I want to play very good this year,” May says.
Terrell May says the Roosters’ decision to let him go has been a huge motivator for him in 2025.Credit: Getty Images
“Obviously a lot of stuff happened in the past, but that was one of my big motivations, to come in this year and prove to them, why would you let me go?
“But at the end of the day, I’ve moved forward and that was my motivation for a bit, but now my motivation is different.”
Pushing himself to the limit is a recurring theme. In a bid to churn out marathon minutes, May ran a marathon in the off-season. With the help of friends, including footballing brothers Jake and Izack Tago, May completed the 42.2km he had marked out from his house in Mount Druitt to a track in Werrington.
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” he says of a journey that took five hours and 37 minutes. “It took me a week to recover from that.”
During next off-season, he plans to run an official marathon, with a goal of completing it in under four hours.
“I feel like in NRL or life in general is more mental than physical,” he says.
“I feel like whatever you put your mind to, you’re gonna do it. Whenever I’m struggling or feel some type of way about stuff physically, I just always go back to my mental [toughness].
“I just look at it as I should just be grateful. It hurts at the time, but at the end of the day, you’re doing what you love.”
Another driver is the ambition to play with his younger brother. Taylan May was sacked by the Panthers, but the winger is permitted to return to the NRL after domestic violence charges levelled against him were withdrawn.
Taylan has declared he is ready to return to the game after a stint in rehab.
“No one knew about what was going on with him, so it was a bit hard on the family and myself,” Terrell says. “I just know he really wants to come back and play in the NRL.
“Obviously when you’re playing with your brother, you’re going to have more motivation, so hopefully he can come over [to the Tigers] and we can get the best out of him.
“He’s still young, he’s only 23, he’s still got a lot to learn, and his body will get bigger, he’ll get faster, stronger.
“Hopefully he’ll come over and prove to everyone that he’s still got it. We’ll pray and see what happens.”
We’re all waiting to see what Terrell does next.
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