Suffering their first real hiccup since rounds two and three, Penrith NRL captain Petero Civoniceva has conceded his side needs to get mentally tougher.

The Panthers looked more than halfway home when they led Parramatta 22-0 after 20 minutes at CUA Stadium on Saturday night before a Jarryd Hayne onslaught brought them undone 34-28.

Plenty have been waiting for Penrith to trip up but, coupled with last week's 12-6 loss to the Warriors, they were just their first back-to-back defeats since going down to North Queensland and Melbourne in the early rounds of 2010.

Coach Matt Elliott accused his side of playing the scoreboard, and Civoniceva said the high-flying Panthers, who have sat as high as equal first on the ladder in recent weeks, couldn't rest on their laurels.

"Seventeen guys went out there, we were meant to do a job and we just weren't mentally tough enough," Civoniceva said.

"It's what the game's about, being able to endure a bit of a setback and we just weren't there.

"This next eight weeks isn't going to be easy, no one's going to give us two points every week.

"There's a battle on, everyone's fighting to get in there."

The Panthers' job now will be to avoid any panic, but Civoniceva said the side had some issues to urgently address.

"We've just got to be honest with ourselves, the solution's in the dressing room," he said.

"We're the only guys who can find a way out of this.

"The talent's still there ... it's just a matter of working hard through the week, obviously addressing some issues.

"There can't be any security in knowing we're up still in the top eight."

Penrith scored four of their five tries from kicks, an aspect of their game they have been criticised for in 2010, but Elliott bristled at a suggestion they lacked firepower elsewhere.

"I think our tries for are looking OK, aren't they?" he said.

"I'm just trying to work out if you get the same if you score off kicks as you do if you score other ways.

"(Saturday's) performance wasn't about how we scored tries, (it) was about how we changed our mental approach during a game.

"It went from being focused to distracted."

The Panthers' next assignment is against unpredictable Melbourne at AAMI Park next Saturday.

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