Taylan May was set to undergo scans on his injured shoulder after the Wests Tigers’ 46-18 loss to Manly in Magic Round left Benji Marshall fearing the winger could be done for the season. Marshall said after the defeat that it was “not good” and that the shoulder appeared to have dislocated again, adding that May would need a scan and that “it could be the season.”
The setback landed after a game in which the Tigers were beaten badly and conceded more than 40 points for the third straight NRL loss. It also left Tanah Boyd, the other player most likely to have played his last game of 2026, facing a season-ending ACL injury after he stopped in the first few minutes of the Warriors’ 44-12 Magic Round win over the Broncos. Boyd clutched at his knee and appeared to have ruptured the ligament before Te Maire Martin came on for his first game of 2026.
For May, the injury cut across a season that had already been interrupted by the same problem. He first dislocated his shoulder in round two, then missed a number of games while he spent about four weeks rehabbing and strengthening it. When he returned, he was one of the few bright spots in a Tigers side fighting through a difficult run, but he re-dislocated his right shoulder in round 11 and now faces scans to determine how serious the damage is.
The timing is punishing for a team already stretched by injuries and suspensions. Adam Doueihi and Samuela Fainu are still out for a number of weeks, Api Koroisau has yet to return from his three-game suspension, and Jock Madden is also a doubt for the next game after injuring his hamstring late against Manly. Jahream Bula is closing in on a return, and the Tigers had expected to welcome Koroisau back after the bye in round 12, with Marshall saying, “We get Api back next week, Jahream [Bula] is a chance, Heamasi [Makasini] could be back in the frame, and probably a couple more there too, but having the bye is the first start, have a bit of time off, reset and start again.”
The concern around May is not just the immediate scan. Brien Seeney suggested the shoulder would be more likely to flare again unless he had surgery, which would leave the Tigers without one of their more dangerous attacking options for the rest of 2026. That matters because May arrived back into the side after missing several games and quickly showed form that offered relief to a struggling club, before the same shoulder that sidelined him earlier in the year gave way again under pressure in Magic Round. For the Tigers, the next few days will tell whether they are planning for a short-term absence or writing off one of the few players who had helped steady their attack.
