A three-game winning streak hasn’t yet earned Penrith the respect of the NRL, according to captain Kevin Kingston.
The Panthers’ past month has featured a stunning upset of defending premiers Melbourne, a record-breaking 56-point demolition of the Warriors and a shutout of St George Illawarra.
As a result, they’re starting to make some noise in the competition, rumbling into the NRL top eight – but because the Panthers are able to fly under the radar out west, they believe the respect is yet to come.
“I don’t think we’re getting any recognition yet,” Kingston told AAP on Monday.
“It’s kind of good because we’re flying under the radar.
“If we keep going the way we’re going, the next couple of weeks we will get that recognition.
“It is time to sit back and see what you’ve done a bit.
“But also we need to keep the foot on the throttle and keep growing that confidence and belief we’ve got at the moment.
“I think getting a bit of respect for the club and what we do is a good thing.
“We just want to make sure winning is not a sometimes thing, it’s a regular thing.”
Centre Lewis Brown has been among the Panthers best in recent weeks, scoring a double in the Warriors’ rout.
He felt the bye had come at the wrong time for Penrith, potentially disrupting their good form, but backed up his skipper’s sentiment that they weren’t being given due recognition just yet.
However he wants to make sure that when people do sit up and take notice of their squad, that they don’t drop off.
“When people start standing up and realising that we are playing good footy and talking about us, it’s important that we keep improving and we stick to those standards,” Brown told AAP.
“It’s no good having that month of good footy where we won all those games and coming out after the bye and going back to old habits.
“I believe we’ve created something new here and the boys have really bought into the gameplan and the structures of the last month.”
Brown spent the bye week ironing out niggling injuries and refreshing the mind – but also found time to reflect on his team’s impressive form.
“It’s given us time to soak it up a bit more,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Panthers say they aren’t interested in adding under-pressure St George Illawarra five-eighth Jamie Soward to their roster this year.
Soward, who will join the Panthers on a four-year deal from next season, has been given time off by Dragons coach Steve Price to clear his head.
Price’s decision has been interpreted as an indication Soward’s immediate future at the joint-venture club could be in jeopardy.
“I gave him a couple of days off just to clear his head,” Price told reporters on Monday.
“I had a discussion with Jamie and we’ll just wait for a couple of days.”
