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Penrith seek cap relief after May stand-down; Trindall back for Sharks after DUI
By Dan Walsh, Adrian Proszenko and Michael Chammas
Penrith have begun discussions with the NRL around potential salary cap relief given Taylan May is expected to remain unavailable under the no-fault stand down policy for the rest of the season.
May on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to three domestic violence-related charges served in Penrith Local court. It is alleged he punched his wife in the face and later stalked her.
Taylan May has pleaded not guilty to domestic violence charges.Credit: Getty
May was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of stalking or intimidating another person with the intention of causing them to fear physical or mental harm.
He allegedly assaulted Jessica May by punching her in the face during an altercation on the night of April 8, before being arrested 24 hours out from Penrith’s Magic Round clash with the Warriors.
May was granted bail on Tuesday after clutching a set of rosary beads during his lawyer Abdul Reslan’s address to the court.
The NRL’s no-fault stand-down policy will continue to apply to May until the case is finalised, with the next court hearing scheduled for March next year.
An NRL spokesman confirmed there was no change to May’s current “no-fault stand down” status.
The Panthers are comfortable with their backline depth. Paul Alamoti replaced May at centre and Ivan Cleary will bring in Jesse McLean on a wing this week against the Dragons.
Under NRL rules, clubs can apply for pro rata salary cap relief when a player is stood down awaiting a court verdict. Any exemption for spending to replace May would apply to his current salary and not the $500,000-a-year extension he signed for 2025 and 2026.
With 13 games left in the NRL season, any cap relief for Penrith to replace May would come in between $100,000-150,000 based on an estimation of his wage this season.
Trindall cleared for Sharks return after DUI incident
The NRL has cleared Cronulla playmaker Braydon Trindall to play against Parramatta on Thursday night after he pleaded guilty to mid-range drink-driving and testing positive to an illicit drug.
Braydon Trindall is cleared to make his return.Credit: Getty
Trindall will bolster a Cronulla outfit missing Nicho Hynes, who has overcome a calf complaint to be named for his second State of Origin match for NSW.
The Indigenous All Stars representative hasn’t played since being stopped by police and recording the results, the day after the Sharks’ round-seven win against the Cowboys.
Trindall entered guilty pleas to the charges when the matter was mentioned in Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday. The 24-year-old is required to pay an $1,100 fine, is disqualified for three months from holding any driver licence and must hold an interlock driver licence for 12 months.
The NRL has deemed the five games Trindall has missed following the incident as sufficient punishment.
In other team news, Eels captain Clint Gutherson and chief playmaker Mitch Moses return from injury against Cronulla with Blaize Talagi - one of the positives in Parramatta’s season to date - shifting to the bench to make way for Gutherson.
Toby Sexton and Drew Hutchison will be Canterbury’s halves in a crunch clash against Newcastle given Matt Burton is NSW 18th man and unavailable.
Penrith will bring Daine Laurie in at fullback, youngster Jesse McLean on the wing and Brad Schneider at No.7 to cover their own Origin-ravaged backline. The Roosters have recalled back-rowers Siua Wong and Sitili Tupouniua to replace the likes of Angus Crichton and Lindsay Collins up front, with axed NSW skipper James Tedesco to lead the side against North Queensland.
Kikau out for up to six weeks
Bulldogs star Viliame Kikau will miss up to six weeks as he undergoes surgery to repair a compound fracture in his finger.
Kikau played the full 80 minutes in Canterbury’s big win over St George Illawarra last week but suffered what Bulldogs boss Phil Gould described as “a nasty compound fracture of his ring finger”.
The Fijian international, one of the NRL’s form back-rowers this season, is expected to be sidelined for between four and six weeks depending on the success of Monday’s operation. The injury is a big setback for Canterbury’s marquee signing, given a torn pectoral limited him to just nine games last season.
The Bulldogs are 10th on the ladder and take on seventh-placed Newcastle this Friday before facing the Eels, Roosters, Sharks and Warriors. Two of the club’s three byes come in the next six weeks.
The Roosters have also copped a blow to their forward pack, with confirmation Egan Butcher will miss the rest of the season after he ruptured his ACL in the Tricolours’ 44-16 defeat of the Raiders on Saturday.
Butcher will undergo surgery later this week before starting rehabilitation.
‘Unfair … unexpected’: Brown opens up on Brad Arthur’s sacking
Parramatta playmaker Dylan Brown says the departure of head coach Brad Arthur, who was sacked last week following a string of poor performances, was “unexpected” and “unfair”.
Brown said it had been a difficult and deflating week for the club, capped by a 42-26 loss to the Rabbitohs on Saturday night – the Eels’ seventh loss in eight games – and said the players felt responsible for the results that led to the end of Arthur’s 11-season tenure at the club.
“We’re all adults and things happen that we don’t want to happen,” Brown said. “It was unexpected what happened – we’re talking about Brad here – and it’s disappointing to see him go because a lot of us are really close with Brad.
“For him to be gone just like that, especially at this time of the season, is disappointing. We are disappointed, but we’ve got to move on and get results because there are fans waiting for us to perform. Brad wasn’t going to perform on the field, it’s us players that have to.
“It’s disappointing that results were the reason that he did get sacked, and that’s up to us. A lot of us dwelled on that, and we think it was our fault, but the only thing that’s going to get us out of this is each other. There’s nothing we can do about it except to perform, and we’re not doing that at the moment.”
Eels playmaker Dylan Brown during the team’s loss to the Rabbitohs on Saturday night.Credit: Getty
Brown said the players didn’t know the board’s reasons for sacking Arthur, but admitted the onus was on them to revive Parramatta’s season.
“The decision has come from above, and we don’t know the exact reasons as to why it was this timing, but we always knew there was pressure on him, and he knew that,” Brown said. “I felt like it was unfair, but there are reasons behind it that they’ve decided to do so.”
Junior Paulo, who captained the team on Saturday, said Arthur’s exit came as a surprise to the playing group.
“It was a bit of a shock. The reality is you can’t do anything about the decision that was made,” he said. “But for us, we just had to get on with our job and I think it was always going to be hard moving on from it.
“Everyone got around Brad. He was in good spirits after what had happened. For us, we’ve got to be able to move on. The quicker the week went on, we just had to move forward. We can’t change anything that’s happened now.”
South Sydney surged to a 22-point lead on Saturday night, but the Eels clawed their way back to within six at the start of the second half. However, as the game wore on, as has been the trend this season, Parramatta’s defence simply gave way.
“That’s been the story of our season,” Brown said. “It’s pretty embarrassing again, but we just need to find some momentum and stick with it. We’re having the same conversations behind the posts every time they score – ‘Win the set and get the ball back’ – but we’re not doing that. There’s a lot in defence that we need to work on because the points are there.”
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