Penrith have put an emphasis on returning to the brick-wall defence that won them four straight premierships, unconcerned by their new underdog status against Melbourne.
The Panthers have leaked 60 points across the first two rounds of 2025, making for the worst defensive fortnight since before their dynasty began.
Their defensive lapses against Cronulla and the Sydney Roosters are in stark contrast to previous years where defence has won them games.
Penrith have already let in as many points in 2025 as they did the first nine rounds of 2021, while it also took five games to concede 60 points in 2023.
And players are aware that their defence needs to improve against Melbourne, expecting the Storm to want revenge in Thursday night’s grand final rematch.
“We’ve averaged 30 points against. We understand that’s not good enough as a playing group,” prop Lindsay Smith said.
“There’s things that we need to do to combat that. That grand final was won on defence.
“So trying to get back to that would be certainly a step in the right direction.”
Penrith have also been hit by the absence of Dylan Edwards (groin) for Thursday night’s game, while Isaiah Papali’i is aiming to return from injury.
Smith said the fact it was early in the season could not be used as an excuse for Penrith, or put the issues down to new combinations with a 1-1 start.
“That’s an excuse sometimes, and I think that gets overplayed,” Smith said.
“When you have losses early in the season there’s a reason behind it. You’ve got to learn from that.
“You can’t just think about it being early in the season and forget about it.
“Because at the end of the day if you keep thinking like that you’re going to keep losing. So we’ve got to address it and then move on.”
Penrith coach Ivan Cleary said he could understand why people might not expect his side to beat Melbourne, but was not concerned.
“I get it this week, I get what people might be thinking,” Cleary said.
“But it’s not our job to worry about that, it’s our job to worry about performing well and that’s all we worry about.
“We only worry about what we can do. We’re confident in what we can deliver, but we’re also early into a new season and a new team with new circumstances.
“We’re just fully focused on putting our best possible performance out there against Melbourne.”
https://thewest.com.au/sport/rugby-league/penrith-eye-defence-after-worst-fortnight-of-dynasty-c-18090045
