Injured Panthers winger Taylan May said the heartbreak of missing out on this year’s grand final will only make him “hungrier” to try help the Panthers to a third-straight title in 2023.
Speaking to foxsports.com.au in the sheds after Penrith’s 28-12 win, May admitted he was “freaking nervous” even though he was not playing, sidelined with a hamstring injury.
“I was just nervous,” he said.
“[But] the boys were calm and I was pretty confident in them.”
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May was a breakout star for the Panthers on the wing this season, scoring 16 tries in 22 games to go with 87 tackle busts and 17 linebreaks.
The 22-year-old could have been a premiership winner in his rookie season but was instead forced to watch from the sidelines after picking up a hamstring injury in the qualifying final win over Parramatta.
There was conjecture over whether May should have been playing in the first place after the young gun was allowed to serve his ban for an assault charge in the opening rounds of 2023.
May will be unavailable for selection for the first two weeks of next season but said missing this year’s decider will drive him to new heights in his second year of first grade.
“It just makes me hungrier and drives me to try and get a third one but I can’t take it away from anyone here who played, they deserved it,” he said.
May formed a lethal combination on Penrith’s left edge with Izack Tago, who knows the winger’s game better than most and is backing him to rebound in a big way in 2023.
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“No doubt, it will definitely give him motivation,” Tago told foxsports.com.au.
“It’s bittersweet. He probably played top minutes out of a lot of the boys over the span of the season. This win is as much his as it is ours. Next year I know he’ll come back on and hopefully come back to it.”
While May was an instant success for the Panthers on the field this season, he said his focus for next year will be on getting himself “mentally right” off it.
As for May’s replacement in the grand final, Charlie Staines, he said it was a “bloody unreal” feeling to win his first premiership while addressing speculation over his future at Penrith.
Staines exploded onto the scene with a four-try debut against Cronulla but was usurped earlier this season by May, who is a more natural metre-eater and finisher close to the line.
Staines has still proven himself a more-than-capable second option, as Sunday’s grand final proved, with the 22-year-old doing brilliantly to shut down Eels winger Maika Sivo.
There are suggestions Staines could be off to the Tigers as part of a swap deal involving former Panther Tyrone Peachey but he said he is fully committed to see out his contract.
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“I’m contracted to Penrith next year so you know that’s where I’ll be next year,” Staines told foxsports.com.au.
Even if Staines was to leave the Panthers, be it before his contract runs out or at the end of 2022, he will do so as a premiership winner and a grand final try-scorer at that.
“[It was an] incredible feeling,” Staines said.
“[I] looked up at the crowd, heard the noise, [I had] never experienced something like that before, 80,000 here. It was amazing.
“I haven’t got too many this year probably so that’s why so I slammed it down and I knew I scored it and emotions sort of took over,” he added of his try.
“I’m contracted to Penrith next year so you know that’s where I’ll be next year,” Staines said.
“I got the opportunity, got the call up last week so wanted to grab that with both hands, very fortunate to be here. We’ve got some quality players, some superstars across the park, to be a part of that it’s crazy.”
