May’s Insta woes, commentator on attack
Fox League and SEN broadcaster Andrew Voss hasn’t missed in his take on the controversial Taylan May Instagram video from inside a speeding car.
Last week, May posted a video on his Instagram account showing himself in the passenger seat of a vehicle that reaches speeds of up to 96 kilometres an hour in a suburban street. May was not driving, but his posting of the video has caused major concern for some and created unwanted headlines for Penrith.
“I watched it and I thought, ‘this is just ridiculous’,” Voss said on SEN this week.
“This is so irresponsible. You’re putting it up as a boast, that the speed is going that fast.”
Voss said the post lacked common sense.
“Leave the role model part out but you’re looked at as a hero. Let me ask you Taylan, would you like your son or daughter down the track to see that? Would you like your son or daughter in that car? Come on, mate. Grow up.”
Voss said Penrith needed to “haul May over the coals”.
May deleted his Instagram account in the wake of the drama, but has now restored it.
Cleary’s May denial
Meanwhile, Penrith coach Ivan Cleary tried to claim he wasn’t aware of the May incident when asked about it on Tuesday. We find that hard to believe.
Turuva visits rival clubs
Sunia Turuva spent part of his time off last week visiting rival clubs as he weighs up his future. His manager drove the 21-year-old to at least two clubs – who I understand to be Newcastle and St George-Illawarra.
The Fijian flyer would prefer to remain at the Panthers, but in a familiar tale, the money on offer elsewhere may be too good to refuse.
Corporate committee locked in
A group of corporate partners will help guide how sponsorship runs while the Panthers vacate BlueBet Stadium for the 2025 season, and possibly part of 2026.
The club is facing a variety of challenges with sponsors, many of whom are local businesses and who benefit from the local aspects of their arrangements.
Enzo Montana (Montana Signs), Melinda Leyshon (You Me Brand Now), Steve Kennedy (Kennect Electrical), Corey Battese (Granville Plastamasta), Tony Licastro (Ultra Air), Michael Jones (MKJ Projects), Roger Amir (Mitronics Corporation), Tony Campbell (Westfund Health Insurance) and Sally-ann Eather (Eather Group) form the committee.
Member committee also secured
Meantime, a seven-person members advisory committee has also been locked in to help guide how the club handles membership and season tickets next year.
John Glover, Ben Cummins, Peita Rzepecki, Angela Dobson, Anita Adams, Steven Guyatt and Aaron Bost will be the eyes and ears of members during the stadium transition.
Why the secrecy?
In recent times, the Panthers have become extremely guarded when it comes to injuries. They’ve stopped providing regular injury updates on their website, and won’t provide official comment to confirm players being in or out.
What makes it stranger is that someone tends to leak the news anyway – so the secret isn’t kept for long, while other journalists who went through proper channels are left out in the cold.
I ponder what it actually achieves to keep injuries and rehab progress under wraps?
Panthers won’t release ANZAC jersey
There will be no ANZAC Day jersey from the Panthers this year. While Penrith will add a poppy to their match day jersey against the Cowboys next Saturday night, there will be no official jersey release this year.
Origin launch
The 2024 Origin series was officially launched in Melbourne earlier this week by coaches Michael Maguire and Billy Slater. Origin is less than 50 days away.
