Penrith coach Ivan Cleary insists there is still time for the four-time champions to get their season back on track after suffering a fifth consecutive loss on Thursday night.
Beaten by the Roosters, Melbourne, South Sydney and North Queensland in their previous games, the pressure on the Panthers has intensified after a 30-12 trouncing from the Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium.
The confidence-sapping setback leaves them ahead of only the Roosters and Parramatta on the competition ladder.
“I’ve got grave doubts about them making the eight ... they’ve lost too many superstars,” Andrew Johns said in commentary for Channel Nine.
Darren Lockyer added: “I think teams have worked Penrith out”.
Coach Cleary maintained his players could turn their campaign around.
“It’s early in the season, and there’s been a lot of tight games we just haven’t won,” Cleary said.
“But if we can improve our defence, it’s going to give us a lot more confidence, and then it’s just a building process from there.
The Panthers are battling to find a win to start the season.Credit: Getty Images
“I know it looks like doom and gloom, but it can change quickly as well.”
If the Panthers are searching for inspiration, they need look no further than their opposition.
The Dolphins lost their first four games of the season, but have since rebounded with impressive wins against Gold Coast and Penrith.
“It’s a tough period when you lose four games in a row, and it’s easy to start questioning things,” Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf said.
“It’s easy to start pulling it apart a bit.
“But one thing the group did was stick together really well. They kept turning up on a Monday smiling, they kept training and working hard ... we’ve got a footy team there.”
Nathan Cleary couldn’t save the Panthers this time.Credit: NRL Photos
The Dolphins opened the scoring and deservedly led 18-6 at half-time, after clearly enjoying the better of the opening 40 minutes.
Penrith started strongly and came close to scoring through winger Thomas Jenkins in the second minute.
But two minutes later, it was the home team that drew first blood when dynamic fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow raced away after supporting a Herbie Farnworth break.
Penrith hit back in the 11th minute, when halfback Nathan Cleary perfectly weighted a grubber kick for young centre Jesse McLean.
The momentum then swung dramatically in the Dolphins’ favour.
First they regained the lead through Tabuai-Fidow’s second try, then the Panthers lost winger Paul Alamoti to the sin-bin.
While Alamoti was cooling his heels, centre Jake Averillo exploded through an opening to score the home team’s third try of the half.
Penrith’s hopes of a second-half fightback were sabotaged two minutes after the resumption, when prop Josh Kerr offloaded in a tackle and back-rower Connelly Lemuelu crashed over.
The Panthers piled on the pressure, trying to get back into the game, but Woolf was delighted with the defensive resolve his troops displayed.
It wasn’t until the 73rd minute, when Moses Leota scored from a Jack Bostock blunder in-goal, that Penrith were able to narrow the deficit.
That left them with a bit more than six minutes to conjure up two converted tries, a task that was beyond even Cleary.
Tabuai-Fidow iced the win with a runaway try in the final minute, giving him a hat-trick.
