The absence of Penrith’s superstar was felt strongly as the Warriors pulled off a stunning upset.
The contest began in frightening manner for the Warriors at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, with Taine Tuaupiki sending the ball dead on full from the start. That error gave the three-time defending premiers field position, which Dylan Edwards took advantage of with Penrith’s first try of the match after only two minutes.
Marcelo Montoya levelled the scores with an eye-catching put-down, midway though the half but injured his shoulder diving to score the try. Scott Sorensen then combined with Jarome Luai to score under the posts to give Penrith a slender halftime lead but the match was turned on its head after the break when Yeo gave away a senseless penalty that saw him go to the bin for 10 minutes.
The Panthers skipper barged into Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad as the stand-in Warriors five-eighth attempted to take a quick tap from a penalty just after half-time, with referee Grant Atkins left with little choice but to sin-bin Yeo. And the Warriors took full advantage of the extra man by crossing for two tries in quick succession to take the lead.
“(It was) just stupidity,” Yeo said about the game-changing penalty against him. “Just a bad judgement call early in that second half when you already know we’re not at our best. It made the day hard for ourselves. That was poor leadership.”
Yeo made amends by crossing for a try when he returned to the fray, before Izack Tago struck inside the final 15 minutes to see the Panthers regain the lead. But there were a few more twists to come in an exciting finish in Brisbane as Tuaupiki scythed through the Penrith defence to cross for a match-levelling try out wide, before nailing the sideline conversion to give the Warriors a two-point lead.
Penrith miss Nathan Cleary as Dylan Edwards kicks poorly
The Panthers were then given an opportunity to send the match to golden point in the final minute when they were awarded a controversial penalty 35 metres out from the tryline. Edwards – who had already had an off game with the boot – skewed the attempted penalty to the right of the posts as the Warriors hung on for a much-needed victory.
Edwards’ miss hit home just how much the Panthers missed their inspirational halfback Cleary, who is one of the best kickers in the game. It summed up what was an underwhelming game in general for Edwards, who only kicked two from five goals as the Panthers fell to their third defeat of the season.
After the game, Penrith coach Ivan Cleary declined to blame the loss on Taylan May’s arrest on the previous Saturday. NSW Police are anticipated to charge the 22-year-old with punching a lady he knows in the face and leg on April 8 when he appears in Penrith Local Court later this month. The Panthers have since banned May from his duties, but he is not yet subject to the NRL’s no-fault stand-down rules.
“No, I don’t think so,” Cleary responded when asked if May’s arrest had influenced his side. “We simply got on with life. We’re here to play football, and that’s what we did. “We simply did not play well enough today.” Jarome Luai continued, “We don’t use anything as an excuse. We turned every page of our preparation, and that’s all it came down to.”
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