Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall has encouraged Terrell May to continue to speak his mind after the star prop forward opened up on his exits from rival clubs and then dropped a bombshell that his only loyalty was to his current coach.

“Benji showed a lot of loyalty to me,” May told the Unscripted podcast.

“As bad as it sounds – and it’ll probably get clipped – but I’ll never be loyal to another club, because at the end of the day, every club’s a business. But I’m loyal to Benji.

“So as long as Benji stays at the Tigers, they’ve got my loyalty. As long as Benji’s at the club, I’ll stay there forever. But I will never be loyal to an actual club again … say the Tigers got rid of Benji, I’m loyal to Benji (so) I’m going (as well).”

May has never been afraid to speak his mind, and Marshall doesn’t want him to shy away from being himself and saying what he thinks in a climate where a lot of players are taught to say as little as possible.

“It’s a funny one because as a game, we want players to be honest and express themselves and be who they are, and then when they are who they are and tell the truth, then we don’t like it,” Marshall said on Friday morning.

“One thing that I love about Terrell is we want him to be himself and express himself. And he tells the truth, and sometimes people don’t like that, but that’s who Terrell is and we love that part of him. What he says is up to him, and I want him to say how he feels.

“Loyalty is a two-way street. It means everything to me. It’s what you want your players to be.”

May will be a key figure on Sunday afternoon when the Tigers take on the Panthers in a game where Api Koroisau will make one final push for an Origin recall to replace the injured Blayke Brailey.

Teen sensation Heamasi Makasini has been named and will take on the premiership favourites a week after he was forced off with a shoulder injury in his first game back from a foot injury that had sidelined him since round 7.

Makasini didn’t return in the second half against the Bulldogs but impressed his coach in the first 40 minutes in his first game back from a rough outing against Brisbane where he made several errors.

“We thought he had an AC injury that we thought was worse than what it is. I think it was like 2 two carry-on last week so he’ll be right to play this week,” Marshall said.

“I thought he was really good (last week). I thought he had a great energy. He was playing against his idol in (Stephen) Crichton.

“I thought he had a good intent about him, started the game really well, and then obviously got a little bit hurt in it.

“I think that time away did him a world of good. I think sometimes when you’re young – he’s only 18 – is that the coach has to at the right time give you a spell.

“And I thought that spell probably came at a good time for him to come back in fresh again, so he’s been good.”