Penrith Panthers maul Canberra Raiders with Stephen Crichton hat-trick

They strangled the Raiders in a 36-6 victory at Penrith Stadium on Sunday, with the Green Machine dropping to 15^th on the NRL ladder.

And of course, it was Panthers centre Stephen Crichton who scored a hat-trick - on almost the anniversary of his infamous try celebration that earned him plenty of scrutiny last year.

He was in the thick of the push-and-shove after the final siren when tempers spilled over.

The match review committee will be busy inspecting the post-game footage after an after-the-siren melee was put on report by the referee.

It was also a clinical kicking display from Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary, who pulled the Raiders apart.

The Raiders were in the contest for 55 minutes, holding the home side to 14-6, but it quickly became a rout after that.

Jordan Rapana was solid at fullback after Raiders coach Ricky Stuart rung the changes during the week.

Canberra were much better under the high ball - although that did became a bit shakier in the final quarter of the game as the Panthers swarmed.

They were able to pin the Raiders in their own half for almost the entire second half, with the visitors only managing to get their hands on the football in the Panthers end in the final minute.

Young Raiders forward Harry Rushton got a true taste of the NRL, when he came on for his NRL debut with two stints in the second half - getting pushed back in one hit-up by a ruthless Panthers pack.

"I was happy because for 55 minutes it was our best football this season so we've got to build on that," Stuart said.

The Raiders started well, going set for set and managing to stamp out the errors that have been plaguing them.

But Penrith dominated early possession and that finally took its toll, with Crichton crossing for his first to open the scoring.

He quickly became the theme of the evening after that on multiple fronts - scoring two more in the space of three minutes as the Panthers broke the game open in the 56^th minute.

Tries to Penrith winger Taylan May and Viliame Kikau followed, with Penrith co-captain Isaah Yeo also getting his name on the scoresheet - capping off a good first-half run by debutant Soni Luke.

A strong Corey Harawira-Naera run, in his 100^th NRL game, set up the Raiders' only try of the night, with hooker Tom Starling then putting Joe Tapine in space to crash over from close range to make it 6-all after 18 minutes.

But the Raiders' poor discipline proved costly - although they could consider themselves unlucky with some decisions in the 11-4 penalty count that favoured the Panthers.

It led to wave after wave of Penrith attack and slowly wore them down to almost a standstill - or occasionally going backwards - as the game wore on.

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary was especially pleased with the patience his reigning premiers showed to wear down the Green Machine, who have now lost four games in a row.

They'll travel to Redcliffe to face the New Zealand Warriors next Saturday.

"We had a ruthless edge to us tonight ... I thought the Raiders to their credit really turned up and they were hard to break down," Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said.

"It took us a long time to be able to finally get there. In that sense I was really happy with the way the boys just stuck at it.

"It was 14-6 for a long time in the second half where we had clearly the possession and field position."

PENRITH PANTHERS 36 (Stephen Crichton 3, Isaah Yeo, Taylan May, Viliame Kikau tries; Nathan Cleary 6 goals) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 6 (Joe Tapine try; Brad Schneider goal) at Penrith Stadium. Referee: Grant Atkins. Crowd: 20,612.

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