Knights fight but no answers to Panthers juggernaut

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary praised his side's ability to stay focused in the face of the physical Knights, who he said were doing their best to slow down the ruck to unsettle the Penrith attack.

"I was actually really happy with tonight – I thought we were on top for most of the game and their try came from nowhere really," Cleary said.

"I thought we dominated most areas. I thought the Knights did a really good job of hanging in there and disrupting us.

"There were five tackle-one six-agains in the first half so that was clearly a tactic, the play-the-ball was so slow tonight."

Cleary said he had raised the issue of teams slowing down the Penrith ruck with the Jared Maxwell, the NRL's general manager of elite officiating.

"We're first in a lot of stats: tackle breaks, run meters, shifts, metres made yet we're ninth or 10th in play-the-balls less than four seconds, so that doesn't add up to me," Cleary said.

"I've seen it in a few other games too … I just think tonight was another level again."

The home side received a further boost when Cleary confirmed to the players after the win that his assistant Cameron Ciraldo had turned down an offer to join Cronulla and would be staying at Penrith.

There were ominous signs early as the Panthers got in range with little trouble and a Cleary grubber with Ponga in the line set up Stephen Crichton's first try of the year just five minutes in.

After some sustained pressure they crossed again through Matt Burton, who benefited from a superb no-look Luai short ball that flummoxed Enari Tuala.

Totally against the run of play, Mann shrugged through Viliame Kikau from inside his own half to send Star To'a into open pastures, with the recalled winger putting a huge fend on Edwards to get the Knights on the board at the half-hour mark.

Despite a late scare the Knights defended that 10-6 score to half-time.

A high-quality scoreless first 20 minutes of the second half was played almost entirely in Newcastle's half, but a Brian To'o double movement as close as Penrith got to scoring in a period of dominance.

They eventually added two points when the Knights fumbled a kick and Ponga played at the loose ball from an offside position.

The margin was still only six but when rookie winger Brayden Musgrove fumbled a bomb under huge pressure, Penrith scored straight from the scrum with Isaah Yeo turning the ball back inside through traffic for Edwards to scoot over.

Penrith sealed the victory with To'o's athletic dive over in the corner in the 75th minute icing the 24-6 result.

The four-pointer capped another monster game for To'o, who made a mammoth 337 metres from 28 runs and had four tackle breaks as he continues to stake his claim for a NSW Origin debut.