Penrith REFUSES to blame New Zealand Warriors’ shock loss on Taylan May’s arrest after cops swoop on Panthers star amid domestic violence allegations

Penrith have refused to blame Taylan May’s arrest for their loss to the Warriors in the Magic Round.

It comes as captain Isaah Yeo berates himself for his “stupidity” in committing a professional foul at a critical moment in Sunday’s 22-20 defeat.

Panthers center May was arrested at 5am on Saturday at a Sydney residence, the day before the Warriors scored one of the biggest upsets of the year against the reigning premiers.

NSW Police are expected to allege the 22-year-old man punched a woman he knew in the face and leg on April 8 as he appeared in Penrith Local Court later this month – this.

May has since been suspended from duty by the Panthers, but is not yet officially subject to the NRL’s no-fault resignation policy.

The Penrith Panthers suffered a shock NRL defeat on Sunday afternoon

The reigning NRL champions were beaten by the New Zealand Warriors at Suncorp Stadium.

The incident forced the Panthers to parachute Paul Alamoti into the starting lineup on Sunday, when the team turned in its most clumsy performance of the year.

Penrith repeatedly put themselves under pressure with errors and poor discipline, with key men Dylan Edwards and James Fisher-Harris offside as their team tried to fight back.

But Ivan Cleary, laconic even by his standards, did not think May’s arrest distracted from his usually clinical side when questioned after the match.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said.

“We just went on with our lives. We are here to play football and that is what we did. We just didn’t play well enough today.

Before the match, five-eighth Jarome Luai said the Panthers would remain “professional” in the face of adversity and had a similar attitude afterwards.

But coach Ivan Cleary refused to blame the defeat on Taylan May’s arrest.

“We’re not using anything as an excuse,” he said.

“We turned every page of our preparation and this is all that happened. ‘

Yeo criticized himself for barging into Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad as the Warriors substitute, five-eighth, tried to take a quick penalty just after half-time.

Referee Grant Atkins sent Yeo to the trash can, where he watched the Warriors run in two downs to chase the Panthers’ 10-4 lead.

“(It was) just stupidity,” Yeo said.

“Just poor judgment at the start of this second half when you already know we’re not at our best.

“It made the day difficult for ourselves. It was bad leadership.