THE Penrith Panthers have just tightened their grip on the NRL minor premiership with a dominant 42-18 victory over the Canberra Raiders at Glen Willow Oval lastnight, avenging last year’s famous defeat at the venue.
Masterhalf Nathan Cleary orchestrated the win, contributing to five of Penrith’s seven tries as the Panthers re-established a four-point buffer at the top of the ladder.
Try-scoring machine Tom Jenkins stole headlines once again, crossing for his 27th and 28th tries of the season. Jenkins equaled Ray Preston’s 1954 record of 12 multi-try performances in a single season and now sits within striking distance of Dave Brown’s historic 1935 record of 38 tries.
Liam Martin also bagged a career-first double for the Panthers, who bounced back from an early deficit to snap Canberra’s four-match winning streak.
“Yeah, it felt good. I didn’t have to do too much work so, no, it was good,” Martin said.
“It was a really good performance, but there’s still areas to improve on. At the start of the game, they sort of shocked us a bit there and that was the same as the week before, so we probably have to fix that up. But I thought we did really well to fight back and wrestle control of the game.”
Penrith will now travel to Auckland to face the third-placed Warriors on Friday night.
“They’re a top side, especially at home,” Martin said.
“It’s going to be really tough and it’s always such a good match-up. I remember the last game against them was tough, so I expect the same.”
The defeat leaves Canberra’s finals hopes hanging by a thread, with the Raiders sitting six points outside the top eight with five rounds remaining.
