Taylan May is adamant his brother and Wests Tigers teammate Terrell May deserves a shot in the Origin arena after a stellar start to 2026.
Payne Haas suffered a grade-three MCL tear in Brisbane's one-point win over the Tigers, which now opens up a spot in the NSW forward pack.
In the lead-up to State of Origin last year, Terrell said one of his 'biggest goals and dreams' was to play for the Blues.
That was before sharing he'd missed selection by telling a friend on a twitch stream to take a Blues jersey and "chuck it in the bin."
A year on, Taylan - the youngest of the Mays - is encouraging Terrell to chase his dreams again.
"He's just a hard worker and you know he's just mad to play with," said Taylan.
"He's got a good offload, he can upset the game with the offload.
"His defence efficiency, I think it speaks for itself and he can ball play. I think a lot of people don't know that he can ball play."
The 24-year-old Taylan, who returned from a shoulder injury for the loss against the Broncos, said he was still building to his best form but is confident he can be a top centre in the league.
"I felt like my defence wasn't the best out there," Taylan said. "I'm hoping to get redemption this week.
"I still believe in myself, obviously it's only my first game so there's room for improvement.
"I am a bit hard on myself but I feel like to be an elite centre you have to be and yeah I'll definitely still classify myself up there.
"I know the ability and what I can bring to the table."
After a tough match-up last week against Brisbane's Kotoni Staggs, the centre knows it will be another difficult game on Thursday against Canberra flyer Simi Sasagi.
"Credit to Simi, he's probably been the best centre this year," Taylan said. "It's another good challenge.
"Going up against Staggs last week I learned a bit and he's a world-class centre so it's just good that I get to have another crack at an in-form centre.
