Ivan Cleary gets critics' concerns over Penrith's form

Ivan Cleary concedes it's fair for critics to question whether Penrith's run of dominance is ending after admitting the club has experienced its scrappiest run of form in more than three seasons.

The Panthers enter their Magic Round clash with the Warriors after back-to-back losses for the first time outside the State of Origin period since 2019, following Saturday night's shock defeat to Wests Tigers.

The losses to South Sydney and the Tigers come after an underwhelming golden-point win against Newcastle, leaving Penrith with a 4-4 record and in seventh.

Coach Cleary is not by any means panicking, given it is early in the season and the club's injury run.

But he can understand why critics are questioning if they are still the same side that won two-straight premierships.

South Sydney superstar Latrell Mitchell famously claimed there were "a few cracks in the windscreen" after Penrith were beaten by Brisbane in round one, and Cleary said he could understand now if people were thinking the same thing.

"The evidence is the evidence," Cleary said.

"It was probably a little early when he said it but you can only go by what you're doing, and within ourselves and as a team, we're far from satisfied with what we are offering.

"It's obviously early days, no-one is going to worry too much about the first eight rounds when the season is over. It's up to us to square that up and fix it."

Cleary said his team had been guilty of inviting rivals into matches too often and conceded the recent run of form was his team's scrappiest since the start of 2020.

"It probably is," Cleary said.

"The Souths game, there were things we could have done better there. But that was a pretty good game.

"The game on the weekend was like, that's not good enough. And the comp is so tight and so even if you open the door teams are generally going to walk through it.

"We have brought the best out of everyone. Particularly in the start of games, we have only had the one game against Manly where I would say we started the first half to the level we would like.

"We've had to battle and when you do that you keep the opposition confident. We've not been in control too often."

Penrith will welcome James Fisher-Harris back on Saturday against the Warriors, while Nathan Cleary is a chance to regain kicking duties as he recovers from a groin strain.

Second-rower Liam Martin remains out as Penrith remain cautious on his hamstring injury after he initially came back against Newcastle three weeks ago but was not fit.

The Panthers coach suggested the NSW incumbent would return in coming weeks before NSW's State of Origin opener on May 31.

"I couldn't say for sure he will be Origin ready, but he should be playing by then," Cleary said.