Penrith hooker James Segeyaro is confident the Panthers have the depth to recover from their injury crisis and give the NRL finals a shake.
Just a week after losing captain Peter Wallace to a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury, Bryce Cartwright (ankle), Brent Kite (pectoral) and Elijah Taylor (ACL) were all added to the long-term injured list in the side's 22-16 win over Canterbury on Friday.
The Panthers reserve grade side lead the NSW Cup and Segeyaro said there were plenty of players capable of making the jump to first grade.
"It's unfortunate and these things happen in rugby league and I think it's just going to bring us closer as a team," he said.
"And we do have a good NSW Cup team ... there are a few boys putting their hand up."
Rookie half Will Smith looked sharp deputising for Wallace against the Bulldogs and could get a chance for the remainder of the season with Tyrone Peachey (pectoral) and Issac John (Achilles) also out.
Penrith take on St George Illawarra next week but Smith said he didn't know if coach Ivan Cleary would give him a start in first grade for the rest of the year, adding that his spot was a week-by-week proposition.
"Gus (Phil Gould) and Ivan, they didn't put any pressure on me during the week, they just said go out there and play your own game," he said.
Playmaker Jamie Soward was impressed with Smith's debut and believed he looked every bit a first grader.
"He's a great kid and I thought he did his job tonight and I'm very happy for him," Soward said.
"He can play anywhere in the backline and he came out there and really controlled his edge really well and competed all night."
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