It may not have been pretty, but Penrith captain Petero Civoniceva has warned Panthers fans to expect more of the ugly football which produced last week's breakthrough win over Manly.

Penrith finally broke their 2009 duck with a 12-10 win over the reigning premiers on Monday night, a victory built more on courage and defensive desperation than attacking fluency.

Regardless of how it was achieved, it was a vital two competition points in the bank for the mountain men, a victory they'll be looking to build on when they host Wests Tigers on Saturday night.

And Civoniceva has predicted another ugly display.

"We're just trying to ease a couple of guys into key positions, obviously our halves combination is something we've been working on and it has taken a little bit of time - it's just one of those things that we just have to keep working on," Civoniceva said.

"It is taking a little bit of time but it's one of those things we need to keep working on and persevering with.

"There's no shortage of talent in the team that's for sure - it's just a matter of getting our plays right at the right end of the field.

"I'm sure once we get in a rhythm we're going to cause some trouble."

Going against the Panthers is the short turnaround from last week, the squad limited to just one field session ahead of the Tigers clash.

None of the four teams that have been forced to back up from a Monday night game so far this season have emerged victorious the following round, a statistic which doesn't auger well for Penrith and Manly this weekend.

Also upsetting the Panthers rhythm is yet another change to the halves combination with young gun Wade Graham named to start the game at five-eighth alongside Jarrod Sammut.

Graham came off the bench to replace a disappointing Sammut after just 19 minutes against the Sea Eagles, the 18-year-old stealing the show with a man of the match performance in his first top grade game of the year.

"He's a very impressive young kid," Civoniceva said of Graham.

"I was blown away when I first arrived down here at the maturity of some of the young guys - you knew straight away that they were ready to step up into first grade.

"That (performance against Manly) was just typical Wade, he's very good at directing play and I suppose that's because of his confidence and his ability to back himself.

"We're hopeful that the performance gives him the confidence that he can become a permanent member of the first grade squad."

Graham and Sammut will go up against one of the hottest players in the game at the moment in Benji Marshall on Saturday night, Marshall coming off his best game since moving to halfback when he tore the Sydney Roosters to shreds last week.

Marshall and the Tigers have kept a low profile ahead of the CUA Stadium match, coach Tim Sheens hoping to keep a lid on things following the win over the Roosters.

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