Tyrone May scores late try as Penrith Panthers sink Canberra Raiders 26-22

THE Panthers have pretty much secured a finals spot with a seventh win on the trot, and it’s no fluke what’s happening at Penrith right now.

Reagan Campbell-Gillard on the charge for the Panthers.

ANTHONY Griffin probably regretted the comment the moment the words left his mouth.

But from the time he told The Daily Telegraph early last month that anyone who tipped the Panthers to win this year’s premiership “has got no idea about football”, the men from the foot of the mountains haven’t lost a game.

That’s seven straight now, and counting. So are we still dopes?

Young Nathan Cleary laughed when we reminded him of his coach’s comments in the wake of Sunday’s gutsy 26-22 comeback win over Canberra.

The victory moved the Panthers to 30 competition points and pretty much secured a finals spot.

But the Raiders remain stuck on 24 competition points and need a miracle with two rounds of the ­regular season to go.

Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary takes on the Raiders defence.

Asked if confidence was growing among the Panthers, 19-year-old Cleary said: “Definitely. I think that is a really big win for us.

“Canberra had their season on the line.

“In Canberra, it is never easy to win down here. They knocked us out last year down here.

“So to get that win is hopefully going to spur us on to the finals.”

Panthers players celebrate victory over the Raiders at GIO Stadium.

The Panthers last won seven in a row in 2003, the year they took the title under Johnny Lang.

Cleary was again a standout on Sunday, finishing with a try and five goals to become the youngest player in history to pass 200 points in a season. His kicking in general play and composure throughout were also first class.

But it wasn’t just Cleary’s performance that got the Panthers home. There was Dylan Edwards at the back. Waqa Blake on the edge. James Tamou through the middle.

You could go through the entire team and find something positive to say about the lot of them.

Like rookie Tyrone May, who again came off the bench and stole the game in the final 10 minutes in just his fifth NRL appearance.

Tyrone May reaches out to score the matchwinning try for the Panthers.

After the Panthers led 22-10 at half-time, the Raiders hit back with converted second-half tries to Jack Wighton and Joey Tapine.

But just when the Panthers looked gone, May spotted that the defence had eyes for Cleary.

So he went bang.

“I looked up and I didn’t feel them really pressuring me,” May said of his try in the 73rd minute.

“I just dummied and ducked under and saw the line and put the ball down. It was a bit of a fluke.”

But it’s really no fluke what’s happening at Penrith right now.

May and Cleary are among six players from Penrith’s 2015 premiership-­winning under-20s side, along with Edwards, Corey Harawira-Naera, Sione Katoa and James Fisher-Harris.

Cleary said that camaraderie was playing a big part in what we are seeing now.

“Definitely. We all get along ­really well and we all like hanging out with each other,” Cleary said.

“To be able to be together is a dream come true.

“When we are winning it just makes it even better.”

Reagan Campbell-Gillard on the charge for the Panthers.

May is also a local junior who has lived his entire life at Mount Druitt and grew up playing for the Minchinbury Jets.

Asked if he could remember when the Panthers won the title in 2003, he laughed: “No, I don’t remember. I would have been seven. That was when I first started playing footy.

“I don’t think I watched much footy back then, I just loved ­playing it.”

Even Griffin said that to knock off Canberra at home under the circumstances was something special.

“Extremely proud,’ Griffin said.

“It was obviously one of our best efforts under the circumstances.

“The penalty count and the weight of possession against us in that second half, we had to win without the ball.

“I thought we did a good job.”

PENRITH 26 (W Blake N Cleary J Mansour T May tries N Cleary 5 goals) bt CANBERRA 22 (N Cotric J Papalii J Tapine J Wighton tries J Croker 3 goals) at GIO Stadium. Referee: Alan Shortall, Ashley Klein. Crowd: 14,818