Benji Marshall hasn’t wasted much time giving Taylan May his debut, naming the centre in the Wests Tigers side to take on Gold Coast Titans this Sunday at Leichhardt Oval.
The brother of Terrell May has been impressive in NSW Cup since joining the club a few weeks back; against the Warriors on Sunday he bagged a hat-trick..
But following the disappointing 34-14 loss to the Warriors in Auckland on Sunday who can blame the head coach for trying everything he can to produce the best team possible.
Taylan was previously with Penrith, but was released after an off field incident.
Once he was cleared of any charges the Tigers threw him a lifeline, and here he is about to run on for an NRL match alongside his brother.
Having May in the centres has meant Marshall has had to reshuffle the team, including shifting Adam Doueihi to lock.
Alex Twal will start at prop, while Alex Seyfarth has been named in the back row after Samuela Fainu picked up a knee injury last weekend, while Fonua Pole moves to the interchange.
On paper at least, this looks like a very good Wests Tigers team with lots of class, but the proof of the pudding will come around 4pm on Sunday at the conclusion of the Titans match.
Kick off will be at 2pm.
Hopefully Leichhardt Oval will be packed to the rafters to help the boys get home with the two points.
Needless to say it won’t be easy, not least because the Titans are just as desperate, if not more, than the Wests Tigers.
TEAM LIST: 1. Sunia Turuva, 2. Charlie Staines, 3. Taylan May, 4. Starford To’a, 5. Jeral Skelton, 6. Jarome Luai (c), 7. Latu Fainu, 8. Terrell May, 9. Api Koroisau (c), 10. Alex Twal , 11. Alex Seyfarth, 12. Tony Sukkar, 13. Adam Doueihi . INTERCHANGE: 14. Tristan Hope, 15. Sione Fainu, 16. Fonua Pole, 17. Jack Bird, 18. Brent Naden.