Terrell May has revealed he came close to returning to Penrith before a meeting with Panthers CEO Matt Cameron convinced him to walk away from the club he once considered home.
Speaking on Josh Mansour's The Unscripted Show podcast, the Wests Tigers prop opened up on a series of career crossroads, including the failed negotiations that ended any chance of a Panthers reunion.
May, who has emerged as one of the NRL's premier front-rowers and has spent the past two years on the fringe of State of Origin selection, admitted he carried resentment towards the Roosters after his exit from the club at the end of 2024.
"I did kind of when they first let me go because it was a weird one," May said.
The 26-year-old explained he had previously been close to leaving the Panthers earlier in his career, only for the club to convince him to stay.
"I was about to sign with Parra mid-year, and they were like 'nah, stay, we got something lined up for you to be happy with your brothers'."
However, this promise never eventuated.
After refusing a demotion to St Mary's during U20's, May departed the Penrith system altogether in 2019 and joined the Roosters, making his NRL debut in 2022.
He would go on to establish himself as a regular first-grader for the tri-colours before joining the Tigers ahead of the 2025 season.
But it was during that first-grade breakthrough year that an opportunity arose to return to Penrith, where his brothers Taylan and Tyrone had already forged their own paths.
"Weirdly enough, I debuted in 2022, Roosters against Penrith and then I met with Penrith a couple of weeks later," May revealed.
"I wanted to go back so bad."
The prop revealed he had expected to sit down with coach Ivan Cleary and finalise a three-year deal, but said the meeting took an unexpected turn when Cameron became involved.
"I was meant to meet with Ivan and sign a three-year deal to come back home, and then I met with Matt Cameron, and the meeting didn't go too well," May said.
"I don't want to go into too much detail, but yeah, I was off him, I walked out and said 'nah, I am re-signing with Roosters'," he said.
May then detailed the exchange that ultimately ended negotiations.
"I will give you a little quote. The first thing Matt Cameron said to me was, 'You are not a gangster, you are not a vlogger or YouTuber, you are a footy player.' I was like what the hell?" May revealed to Mansour.
"Then he started talking down on Tiny (Taylan May) and Tyrone (May), and I was like, nah, this ain't it. I sat there and listened to what he said, I apologised to the club for my U20's thing, and then I just left.
"It was meant to be just me and Ivan, then bro (Matt Cameron) came out, and I was like, hell no, bruh, I am not signing here."
Instead, May recommitted to the Roosters and remained at Bondi before eventually joining the Tigers in 2025.
While the move to Penrith never eventuated, May has since developed into one of the competition's most damaging forwards, earning representative consideration and becoming a cornerstone of Benji Marshall's rebuild at Concord.
His comments offer a rare glimpse into a recruitment decision that could have dramatically altered his own career.
