Wests Tigers star Terrell May has broken his silence on reports surfacing in July that players were caught vaping in the gym.
May has shut down all speculation when speaking to media on Wednesday morning, confirming the allegations are not true after being unfairly targeted.
“I feel always targeted. Everyone might say, ‘Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself', but it's the truth,” May said on Wednesday.
“Fake stuff … I didn't vape. But like I said, everyone has their own opinions, and until you really get to know me, that's when (you can) judge me.
“But people that don't know me assume lots of stuff that might be true or may not be true.”
It was the first time May had publicly addressed the noise surrounding the club, after initially considering tackling the situation on his podcast Mayday but opted against it to limit bringing more fuel to the speculation.
“To be honest, with the vape stuff, I did wanna come out and say something on my podcast,” May added.
“But (it) puts fuel to the fire, to be honest, and I didn't really wanna give the media or the journos that were saying that I was doing all that stuff; I didn't really wanna fuel the fire and respond to them.
“Because at the end of the day, what's the point, man? Like … they don't really know who I am.”
Tigers coach Benji Marshall held a press conference alongside Adam Doueihi in late July, where the former Kiwi international cleared the air on the rumours surfacing about the club.
"I can tell you now that no-one's vaping in the gym. That's actually fabricated or misinformation," Marshall said.
"Is there a vaping problem? Probably, with players, but with young men, you can't tell them whether they vape or smoke.
"I definitely can't control what they do 24/7. I'm not with them all the time."
May revealed he has been on a social media hiatus for almost a year, meaning the negative noise doesn't affect him.
The Samoan international admitted he holds concerns for the toll it takes on his family, who are exposed to headlines about him.
“I just felt like there's not really anything I can put out there without getting in trouble or speaking my mind, or telling you guys lies,” he said.
