Penrith at risk of 72-year low in NRL grudge match
Penrith will sit last on the ladder later in the regular season than any defending premier for 72 years if they lose to local rivals Parramatta in round 13.
Not since Western Suburbs, who went from grand final winners in 1952 to wooden spooners a year later, has an NRL premier struggled to ignite their season for as long as the four-time reigning champions.
The only exception is Melbourne in 2010 but the Storm's 2009 premiership was declared void amid salary cap breaches that barred them from accruing competition points as defending premiers.
Penrith fell back to bottom place on the ladder with last Saturday's 25-6 loss to fellow strugglers Newcastle, leaving coach Ivan Cleary to warn the Panthers they must begin realising their potential.
The playing group is focusing on a first win since adopting CommBank Stadium as their home ground this year, not their lowly ladder position.
"I'm not losing sleep over it," said winger Tom Jenkins.
"I care about winning games and winning premierships and stuff like that. But if you're too focused on that (ladder position), it's just going to make you play bad. It's that simple.
"(Cleary) also spoke about - it's seeing how far away you are from those top teams. We don't feel like we're that far away. It's about things going right and making things go right."
The Panthers' season risks slipping away amid the always disruptive State of Origin period but the club is hopeful their five representatives - Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Brian To'o, Dylan Edwards and Liam Martin - will face the Eels on Sunday.
Veteran second-rower Scott Sorensen did not feel the Panthers' situation was becoming more urgent as the season approached its halfway point.
"You want to win every week," he said.
"There might be a little bit (of urgency) there but I just think everyone's very level-headed, very grounded.
"We might be out there and the story might be that we're here on the ladder but for us, it's honestly just what's in front of us right now and that's Parramatta."
Sorensen returns from the three-game suspension he received for his shoulder charge on Nathan Brown in round eight and has been named to line up on the left edge.
"I got a little bit of time there to take a breath, reset, get some quality training in and I'm excited to get back into it this weekend," he said.
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Daily Telegraph
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