It's hard to know whether Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens is happy or upset with superstar five-eighth Benji Marshall's decision to pull out a big one last weekend.

Marshall looked back to his best in carving up South Sydney. The jink, the step, the no-look pass and the swagger were all rekindled by a pre-game highlights package.

It was enough to put a smile on the face of every black-and-gold fan out there, and give them hope that 2008 may not be the wasted year it was shaping up to be.

But with his side teetering outside the top eight heading into Saturday night's clash with Penrith at CUA Stadium, Sheens would have had every right to ask 'where's this been for the first 18 rounds of the competition?'

And more importantly, 'will it be here for the remaining seven?'

"That's one game," Sheens said.

"If we're talking about consistency with the team we've got to start talking about consistency with them (the main playmakers), that's where it comes from.

"The main playmakers who handle the ball the most and make most of the decisions, if they're consistent with their game generally the team is.

"That's the challenge for the halves.

" ... you might win all seven (remaining) games or you might not, but you've got to play well to give yourself a chance to win at least every second game or two out of every three or something like that.

"You've got to try and stay consistent for seven weeks otherwise you're no chance even if you make the play-offs."

While the battle of the big cats won't make or break the Tigers' season, a loss could make clawing back into top eight a tough ask.

Penrith are in eighth spot on 21 competitions points, while the Tigers are one of three sides - Canberra and New Zealand Warriors the other two - just a point further back.

Still, Sheens said he wouldn't be trotting out the 'must-win' line.

"If we win it that's not going to guarantee us a semi-final, if we loose it doesn't mean we won't make it either," Sheens said.

"Seven games out, you can't start, otherwise you put too much pressure on yourself and on the team.

"There's an element of playing under pressure, wanting to win and making sure they keep their adrenalin levels at a control rate rather than panic every time they drop a ball because coach has said you've got to win this game no matter what."

For the Panthers it's a case of get every point while you can as they stare down the prospect of horror run home.

"There's an opportunity for us to pull away from those teams just behind us," Penrith skipper Petero Civoniceva said.

"Because of the run we've got coming in - we've got Manly twice, we've got the Storm, we've got Auckland away - every two points in vital."

Panthers backrower Frank Pritchard failed to take part in Friday's final training run, and is considered a 50-50 proposition due to a shoulder strain.

Meanwhile the Tigers will wait until Saturday afternoon to make a final decision on skipper Brett Hodgson's (calf) availability.

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