#AskGus: What Taylan May's signing means for the Tigers' future

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Speaker 1: Nine podcasts.

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Speaker 2: Big Tree Matt is a big Tigers fan, Gus, and he wants to know what you think of Tailor May's signing. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Look, I know the May Boys pretty well. They were very young at the time, probably had more to do with Tyrant than the other two boys. But I've certainly met them a number of times since I know the family, I know the history of the family, so I've got something of a soft spot for all of them. And i think in a lot of respects they're misunderstood and misread, and you know, people can to form their opinion on these players and the way they carry themselves and that themselves. I've always found them to be very honor east and sincere players, very loyal sort of players. I know They've had their trials and tribulations over the years. I think the May Boys need their rugby league. I think it's an important part of their life and i think without it they would you know. I think they would struggle without their football. They've also had a desire to play together in the same club. They all were at Panthers when they were young, but circumstances have seen that they've all been split up over the years and there's been a desire for them to get back and play for the one club. Terrell is now with the Tigers. I'm sure if Taylor, I was sure that if he was given the opportunity, Taylor would have liked to have gone to the Tigers again. Now which has happened, and if they go well, I can see where Tyrone may even come back and play for them in the future as well. He's over there in Whole k Are at the moment and going really good in the English Super League. Look deep down, their good kids. I can understand how people may feel about different things and things that have happened in their history, and I'm pretty much up to speed with all of it. And I think it's good for Tailor that he's got another opportunity and I hope he makes the most of it. And I hope the made boys finish off their careers and all goes well for them. I really do, And I hope the one day they're all playing together, which is their desire, which will be good for their family and in all other aspects. I'm trying to answer this without giving too much away, but also in support of the boys at the same time understanding how public opinion may vary with that because of the way things.

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Speaker 2: Get reported or.

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Speaker 1: The troubles that they've had in their own lives outside of football. So but you've seen what Terrell's done for the Tigers. He's a tremendous footballer, so to Tailor, Talan's a terrific footballer, and it's unfortunate what's happened to his career through injury and other circumstances. So I think he's a great signing for the West Tigers if he can get back to his best. And more importantly, I havee that football is good for Tailor for the rest of his career as well and sets him up for the rest of his life. And then maybe the three brothers will be reunited at some stage down in the future, but that's up with the Tigers, and that's in the lap of the gods, to be honest. But yeah, I think for West Tigers they should embrace him, and I think they should trust him and trust the club and trust the management on the decision they've made that have done their due diligence. They have got to meet him and understand a little bit more about him and his family, and I think it's great that they've given him an opportunity and Rugby League can do that and hopefully Tailor makes the best of it.

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Speaker 2: Okay, Hamish wants to know Gus. The Warrior have been playing particularly well. Better than that, what do you think has been the biggest contributor to their success?

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Speaker 1: Well, a couple of factors. Time together and the Warriors have been on a mission. Out of the last three four years. I had the good fortune to do a little bit of work with the Warriors back was during the COVID period when they're over here based in Australia, based in Tamworth, are based in Redcliffe, they're based at the Central Coast and they're all living away from home with their families, and they went through a really trying period there for a while, and I think that that time has sort of galvanized the club and said it on a course, I think their owner, Mark Robinson is an exceptional human being. An exceptionally successful businessman who's taken on buying the Warriors and restructuring the Warriors and giving it a character and a personality of his own. And I think one of the things we we set about doing it those stages, in the early stages were setting up pathways programs for them get them back in the junior rep competitions Here in Australia. The NRL came to the party by paying the airfares so that they could get themselves involved in the Harold Matt's Competition, the SG Board, the Jersey Fleg and the New South Wales Cup, and I think that was vital to the development of the Warriors club and bringing them forward. And they're doing extremely well in those competitions. I think they've won a couple of comps in those areas and could win a couple more. They're leading the New South Wales Cup by a long way, not only as their first grade going side going really well, but the New South Wales Cup sides leading the competition. It's a very very strong side. And we're seeing the emergence of a number of players that have come out of that Pathways program and the development they're doing there there are so many talented young kids over there in New Zealand, and most of the leading New so NRL clubs here in Australia have got academy programs over there in New Zealand. There's plenty of talent there and the Warriors have really got their act together in that regard, and we're starting to see that with some fellows that before this year were probably unknown are coming in and showing just how talented they are. They've also recruited really well. You know, some of the some of the buyers they've made have been very strategic and they've also released some players and that's proven to be wise choices as well. And I think the other factor is probably the recruitment, fortunately of James Fisher Harris, who's come from a full time premiership winning club. Are very very proud kiw and you know, from what I understand, he's taken his work ethic and he's professionalism and the value of being in the premiership winning player to the Warriors and given them new direction. You know, Mitch Barnett the other night, he once a yew whiz. He's out for the season, but they brought some kids in and just they just ran rough shot over the Sharks, didn't they It's way too good for them. So now it's it's a team on the rise, and it's only it's only going to get better. The scary part about the Warriors, this is only the start. This honestly is only the start. You know, whatever they do this year, they're going to be a better team in the next two or three years. This same squad, even if they just keep this squad together. He's an exceptional blog. Mark Robinson, the owner and the CEO Cameron George is one of the smartest in the game, really really smart operator. It's just those two blocks. There's no board of directors, there's no you know, they're not set up like they are in Australia. It's privately owned by Mark Robinson. His father actually sponsored the New Zealand Kiwei. He's back in the seventies and eighties. He had a company called aw Tex, which was a textile carpitile company and I went over to the New Zealand New Zealand Rugby League there at one time there when I did get across the New Zealand and went to the museum and there's a whole room on the or tech room, which was dedicated to his father's time in sponsoring the the New Zealand Kiwei's the national team for a number of years and it's a rugby league family there in New Zealand. They've always been in rugby league. Mark Robinson, the owner, played as a young fellow, pretty wild sort of fellow wild kid, very successful in business. He worked for his father in the textile business and has built a tremendous business of his own, very very successful. When you go and look at his workplace and the culture and the people and the relationship he has with him there. He's just brought that expertise and how he's built his business there across to the Warriors and given to the professionalism and a family type feel and he's reaping the rewards from it. He's a very very successful black and Cameron George is a very very smart operator, very very good operator. And the Warriors are in great hands and they're going to be a force for a long period of time because Mark's in it for the Mark's a winner, Mark's in it for the long haul. He's I had the very good fortune then when we were over in Vegas earlier this year the Warriors were playing the Raiders and on the Wednesday night before the game, Mark and Cameron invited me to a staff function. They have a staff function at the Blajio Hotel. They're just a dinner for all their staff and their partners and they brought some key sponsors across the course and they charted their own plane from New Zealand to come across. And I suppose he was about fifty or sixty people there at a dinner and Mark got up and spoke and he was quite he was quite emphatic. He said, the Warriors will be winning the premiership this year, and you know he was really confident about it. But that's the confidence he exudes. That's just what he is. He's a real winner as a bloke in his life and his business. He's a very very successful businessman. But you only need to look at the way he's staff and the people that are loyal to him in his business to understand what sort of person he is and how that's carried over into the Warriors and how they speak about him there. He's a special human being. The owner, Mark Robinson, and there's no there was never any doubt that the Warriors were going to be a success eventually. And they are now and they're only going to get better. You are seeing the tip of the iceberg. For years and year and years we've been saying the Warriors should be a juggernaut. Well strap yourself in, baby, because it's coming. And it's whatever they do this year, and they could easily win the competition this year. Whatever they do this year, they're going to be better in years to come. It's very very exciting for the game. I think you know, the year that the Warriors can win a competition, it's going to be great for the National Rugby League. It's going to be great for our code. And I know that's his sole mission at the moment. His father passed away some years ago, and before he passed away, he said to Mark, you've got to promise me one thing. He said, what's that? He said, don't ever buy the New Zealand the Warriors. Don't ever buy the Warriors. Mark said, I promise I won't. He did.

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Speaker 2: I went.

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Speaker 1: I went to his sixtieth birthday party across that he told the story. He said, yeah, my dad said, don't ever buy the Warriors. Because I think that asked a few times and he said, Okay, of course now he did. He loves it.

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Speaker 2: He loves it. Mark absolutely scared him to a title. And they're not too distant future, they're going enormous stiff. With a two pronged question, who decides which players room together? Is it the players or the coaches or some other system? And secondly, do you have any funny roommate stories?

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Speaker 1: No, no, I will Usually the coaches try to. I think the coaches do to coaches, and management will do that. You know, and that goes back way back, even into my time. I mean I was always roomed with the Troublemaker. It was going to be the most difficult on tour. I had to look after him. Special call out to Mark Bugden, but it's Mark Bugden was my roomy on a number of trips. It was my responsibility to get him home and get him where he needed to be, which was a handful. But yeah, usually management will have strategy for that, particularly in rep teams. You'll try to build combinations or or what have you. Sometimes the players taken upon themselves, but normally management handles that. Coaches handle that and the players are pretty compliant. Usually the captain will get his own room, just because usually there's an odd number and someone's got to have their own room. So the captain might have his own room, but other than that they all buddy up. There have been some camps I've been in where everyone got their own room. I don't know how the camps are set up these days or how they go. I don't know whether families are involved, and well families stay in a different hotels. I've been around the camp a couple of times up there in Bridgement, it seems that all the families are staying in the same hotel at different times. So I don't know what the setup is these days. I've never really inquired. But from a club perspective, I mean Bulldogs, we go into camp most weeks prior to games and assess the players and the staff, and they've got their they've got their roommates. And it used to be how I used to start every club meeting, every meeting that we ever had, so that I knew that everyone was there whose roommate's not here, and that was that was my head count to know that everyone was there.

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Speaker 2: But have you ever had a player I just blatantly refused to room with someone who they've been allocated to No.

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Speaker 1: No. There was a famous story many many years ago when Tom Radonaghus was the incumbent New South Wales halfback and he'd been replaced by a young upstart called Steve Mortimer. And Steve Mortimer was the new kid on the block and Tommy was everyone knew Tommy, tom Rough and Tumble Tommy, and Steve Mortimer was a bit of a whiz kid, and they decided it would be a good idea even though Tommy had been relegated to the bench and Steve Mortimer's come in that they'd roomed them together. So of course when they get to the room, there's a double bed in a single bed. Steve Mortimer is running into the room, trasy his bag on the double bed, jumps on the double bed and sets himself up there on the double bed, and Tommy walks in and he sees Steve Morter on the bed. He said, what are you doing? He said? Steve said nothing much mate. He said can you make us a cup of tea, to which Tommy went and open the window, come back, grabs Steve's bag and threw his bag out of the window. On the end of the car park below then grabbed Steve Mortar and threw him off the double bed. Steve got up and said, do you want one milk or two? One sugar or two in your cup of tea?

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Speaker 2: Whoever thought that was a good idea was misguided.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so I think they get it wrong every now and then. I think that's the story heard. I've heard both of them tell it. It was a little less friendly than that, but yeah, sometimes you get the roomless wrong. You think you're going to try and mend a broken relationship, but it doesn't work out that way.

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Speaker 2: I think Lee Martin and Cameron Munster are going to be sharing a room or kangaroo to it.

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Speaker 1: I think there mate, I think their mates. I think it's all I've put on.

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Speaker 2: Oh you sure? Oh there's a bit of tension there. They went at each other in the origin again.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but that's what made to do.

00:15:09
Speaker 2: That was asking us. Thanks to the TAB, the NRL season is in full swing for the best time in sport. Tab has the best app in sport. Tab We are on you.

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Speaker 3: Win some, you lose more. For free and confidential support, visit Gambling help online dot org dot au.