NRL: Panthers have plenty to play for

Saturday's match is the last at home for Penrith's outstanding prop Petero Civoniceva. Photo / Getty Images

The Penrith Panthers may be all but out of National Rugby League (NRL) playoff contention but the New Zealand Warriors say they won't be short of motivation for tomorrow night's match in Penrith.

The Panthers currently sit 11th on the NRL table, six points out of the top eight with three games to go and eight points behind the sixth-placed Warriors.

But Warriors assistant coach Tony Iro said the Panthers players will have been fired up by club supremo Phil Gould to impress the Warriors' coach Ivan Cleary as he prepares to take over as Penrith coach next year.

"I suppose there's a special circumstances with this being our head coach's new club - they'll be pretty determined to put on a good performance,'' Iro said.

"I've had Phil as a coach myself too so I know what he's capable of and he'll have them firing.''

Penrith star Michael Jennings also has some incentive. He was stood down by the club last week and put on a final warning for reportedly turning up inebriated to training and will be keen to impress in what will be his first game at fullback.

"Jennings is a fantastic player, and he has a lot to prove after the last week or so,'' Iro said.

"It'll be interesting how he handles that fullback role, but with his pace and ability he's one player that's definitely going to be an X-factor for them. We'll have to really watch him but I suppose at the end of the day we have to just worry about our game, do what we do well and hopefully that will be enough.''

The match is also the last at home for its outstanding prop Petero Civoniceva, who Warriors lock Micheal Luck said will be his usual handful.

"He's a big guy who goes forward well, he's arguably the best prop in the game, so it's a big job for our guys in the middle to get out and put some pressure on him from marker and try and stop him before he gets wound up because he's pretty hard to stop once he does.''

Iro said the Panthers would also be keen on knocking playoff contenders over, and they might also be wanting revenge for their 12-6 defeat at home last year despite having the vast majority of possession.

"Last year was a pretty special performance in terms of D (defence), but certainly at this time of the year you don't want to be making 450 tackles, which is what I think we got up to last year,'' he said.

"I certainly don't think with the calibre of players in their team that we'll get away with that again.''

It will be an important game for the Warriors as they probably need one win to secure their place in the top eight for the playoffs.

They also sit just two points behind fourth-placed North Queensland and one point behind the fifth-placed St George Illawarra, the teams the Warriors play in their last two matches.

The team is also keen to improve their starts - in both their past two wins they had to overturn halftime deficits.

"The most pleasing thing out of the last few weeks is that we've been able to turn it round at halftime without needing to look over a video to do it. It proves that we all know how to play and what sort of play gets results,'' Luck said.

"We just have to go out and do it from the start and not wait for a kick in the bum at halftime.''

- NZPA