Penrith NRL coach Ivan Cleary says the Panthers' failures in attack this season can't be pinned exclusively on their much-scrutinised halves pairing.
The mountain men enter Sunday's clash with Newcastle at Hunter Stadium with the third worst attack in the competition behind the Knights and last-placed Cronulla.
With just 22 tries to their name after eight rounds, the Panthers need to find more points, but Cleary is entirely comfortable with playmaking duo Jamie Soward and Peter Wallace.
Cleary says the pairing have endured a disruptive start to their first season together due to injury, and called on Panthers teammates to lift their performances and help fast-track the success of the Soward and Wallace combination.
"It's definitely a whole team process," Cleary told AAP.
"Clearly the halves have got a big part in how you attack and they're responsible for the direction and they make the big decisions.
"But they need help from others as well. Our team has got a lot of new faces, not just the halves, and we're still finding our rhythm.
"That's not going to happen overnight so every member of the team is important in this process and we're still a work in progress."
Despite Soward and Wallace's extensive NRL and representative experience, Cleary said he's not surprised that they haven't gelled immediately.
Penrith were disappointed with their last-start loss to the Sharks two weeks ago, but Cleary is refusing to put undue pressure on his generals.
"I'm not concerned at all. Things aren't going to run perfectly straight away, especially early in the season," he said.
"They've only really been together for the last three or four weeks and we've had a bye in between.
"In terms of combination I've been really happy with them.
"But without a doubt, we should see the best of their combination as the season progresses."
Newcastle have just two wins on the board in 2014 and will be desperate to make up for lost time after a horror start to the year.
The Knights are missing Korbin Sims to suspension, but welcome back flying Fijian Akuila Uate on the wing.
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