Panthers need to improve defence ahead of Wests Tigers match

FOLLOWING their worst loss since the Anthony Griffin era began, Penrith backrower Isaah Yeo says his young side were very angry with themselves.

Peter Wallace at Panthers training on Wednesday.Picture : Gregg Porteous

FOLLOWING their worst loss since the Anthony Griffin era began, Penrith backrower Isaah Yeo says his young side were very angry with themselves after last Saturday’s 42-10 defeat to St George Illawarra.

Ahead of this Sunday’s game against Wests Tigers at Campbelltown Yeo was confident Penrith had done all they could to get back into winning mode, but didn’t hide away from last weekend’s disaster.

“We understand at this level you’ve got to be honest with yourself and there’s 17 players that were disappointed with how they played on the weekend,” he said.

“When you get beaten by that much you need to have a good hard look at yourself and I think we’ve all done that and we’ve trained really well since.”

Matt Moylan has fun at training on Wednesday. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Skipper Matt Moylan said his team wasn’t patient enough against St George and if they turn up with the same attitude against a James Tedesco-led Tigers they could be in for a long day.

“There’s a lesson we can take out of it. We didn’t respect the ball enough and we turned it over a lot which came back to bite us,” Moylan said.

“Everyone’s got a part to play and I’m trying to grow and improve as a leader each week.

“He’s (Tedesco) one of the best attacking players in the whole comp so we’re going to have to be at our best defensively. His positional play and support play is great and we can see what he can do now that he’s been able to string games together.”

After losing Peta Hiku for a month to a broken eye socket Dylan Edwards gets his chance to impress again after making one appearance last season.

Edwards is the fittest player at the club, winning every race from 200m to 2.5km in training, and Peter Wallace said he’s a fantastic sight to watch once he gets in the clear.

“He can maintain his speed. He’s fast and very fit,” Wallace said.

“It (debut) would have made him hungry. I was like that at the start of my career. I only got the one game in my first season and it definitely makes you hungry and I know he’s going to grab this opportunity with both hands.”

Anthony Griffin and Phil Gould watch on during the Penrith Panthers training on Wednesday. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Wallace said Russell Packer was lucky not to be suspended after his closed fist swinging arm left Hiku almost unable to see out of one eye as he toughed it out against St George.

“It’s probably one he got away with. I feel for Peta after coming back from an ACL and he couldn’t have stayed down for a penalty but played on,” Wallace said.

While Trent Merrin maintained it would take new recruit James Tamou a few weeks to fully fit in, Wallace said the Panthers had lifted a level on the training paddock soon after last week’s loss.

“It’s been different. Our intensity has picked up a lot. We need to lift and training has been good the past couple of days,” he said.

“The whole team was pretty ordinary last week.

“We were way off but we’ve addressed that and we know we need to be a lot better.”

Tigers skipper Aaron Woods was well aware of the bounce back factor and said his side was ready to face a determine Penrith outfit.

“We’re up against a really tough Penrith side this week. They got a bit of a touch up from the Dragons last week and I’m sure they’re going to be pretty fired up come Sunday,” he said.