Penrith are determined to put an end to their slow-starting rut ahead of Saturday afternoon's NRL clash with South Sydney.
The Panthers have led at half-time in just three of their past 10 matches, despite finishing last year's regular season on a hot streak and overcoming a 14-point deficit to Parramatta last Sunday.
But coach Anthony Griffin said the trend had to stop immediately at Panthers Stadium.
"We slaughtered ourselves early last week with that first 15 minutes," Griffin said.
"And even though we came back well and there was some credit to the players and their composure and their conditioning, we need to be better than that.
"Eventually if we keep doing that it's going to cause more problems for us.
"Souths are a really good side, as were Parramatta, they've got quality players all across the park and we need to start well against them."
The momentum of last week's game changed when Kangaroos prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard was brought on after starting off the bench.
He and powerhouse Fijian second-rower Viliame Kikau have both been named in the starting line-up again for Saturday, but Griffin was coy on Friday on whether they would both again come off the bench.
With temperatures set to reach to 36 degrees in the west on Saturday, the Panthers could be tempted to leave Kikau to target fatigued defenders in the second half off the bench, namely rookie Rabbitohs halfback Adam Doueihi
Meanwhile Campbell-Gillard's early absence was made up by the fact he got through more than 60 minutes of work after coming on unchanged midway through the first half.
"He's a unique type of front-rower Reagan, very mobile and very fit," Griffin said.
"He does have a lot of minutes in him, so the plan last week was to get him out there after the opening 20 minutes.
"That probably helped us a bit."
Penrith are also sweating on the fitness of Kiwi centre Dean Whare, who they hope will return from a three-week recovery from a hamstring injury.
Whare was named on the Panthers' extended bench earlier this week, and could go in at left centre and push Tyrone Peachey back to the bench if he's declared fit after Friday's final training run.
"He's had a good week at training. We've got another run today so we'll look have a look at it. He's a possible," Griffin said.
STATS THAT MATTER
* South Sydney have won seven of their last nine against Penrith.
* Souths made the most line breaks of all teams last weekend, with eight in their loss to the Warriors.
* Nathan Cleary has kicked 29 straight goals for Penrith, six shy of Hazem El Masri's record of 35.
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