Neil Breen: Fallout of Tyrone May post exposes rugby league’s ‘really sad’ culture
Neil Breen says a scathing tweet thread he penned on Penrith utility Tyrone May has exposed the ‘really sad’ culture in the NRL.
May took to Instagram following the Panthers’ win over South Sydney in the NRL Grand Final, quoting Drake lyrics:
“And the dirt that they threw on my name
“Turned to soil and I grew up out it
“Time for y’all to figure out what y’all gon’ do about it.”
The post drew criticism for including a photo of May at a court appearance, flanked by coach Ivan Cleary.
He narrowly avoided jail in 2020, instead sentenced to a three-year community corrections order, after pleading guilty to four counts of intentionally recording an intimate image without consent.
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“I don’t use Twitter often, but I did yesterday,” Neil started. “He was telling society with a photo of him and Ivan walking out of court triumphantly when he wasn’t jailed, ‘what y’all gon’ do about it’.”
“He’s never said sorry publicly.”
Hey Tyrone and @PenrithPanthers – re this GF night social media post. I was in Parra Local Court the day you were sentenced in January last year. Your flatmate Nathan and his Mum and Dad Rebecca and Ivan were there too. Thought I might remind you what Magistrate Robyn Denes 1/10 pic.twitter.com/11Nc208LzS
— Neil Breen (@breenie9) October 5, 2021
Neil said despite criticism of May’s post and his own thread gaining traction overnight, the code and club has failed to address the matter appropriately.
“The fact that the NRL’s done nothing to him about that post on Sunday night and the Panthers have done nothing about him…
“The only word I got from the Panthers yesterday was anger from a senior official at the club that I’d had a crack at their club on Twitter.
“It just goes to show the culture of a lot of people involved in rugby league and it’s really sad.”
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Image: Matt Blyth/Getty Images