Penrith coach Matt Elliott is desperately trying to stop his side's NRL season heading into freefall after the Panthers clocked their fifth loss from their last six games with Sunday's 43-18 loss to the Wests Tigers.

Sitting second behind ladder leaders St George Illawarra for most of the season, the Panthers have now slumped to fourth on the ladder and will find themselves outside the top four if Manly beat the Dragons on Monday night.

They face South Sydney at home next Friday before meeting potential party poopers Canterbury (away) and Cronulla (home).

"We've got some work to do, there's no doubt about that," Elliott said.

"We need to get back and do what we know we're capable of doing.

"You can't play your best footy without the right mentality, it's impossible.

"I know it's easy to lump this one in with the other losses but this one was different.

"We've got a massive stake in this season and we need to check in on that investment.

"We've got three weeks to build some momentum."

Captain Petero Civoniceva said the side was desperate not to let most of the season's good work slip away.

"We've done so much tremendous work to get to where we were," he said.

"But we're going to bring about our own downfall if we don't change things fast."

The battle for the top four, and an all important home final, is wide open for the three sides who will finish behind likely minor premiers St George Illawarra.

Gold Coast have mounted a late-season surge, rocketing into second spot on the back of their fourth straight win, 37-18 over North Queensland on Saturday.

The Tigers are third after their victory over the Panthers, while the Sydney Roosters have slipped to fifth after consecutive losses, and their second this year to lowly Cronulla, 18-12 on Friday.

The Warriors, who almost certainly put Newcastle out of business with a 22-10 win on Sunday, are sixth and Brisbane eighth despite Friday night's 30-14 loss to Parramatta.

South Sydney, who missed a golden opportunity to mount some pressure on the eight by going down 18-16 to Melbourne on Sunday, the Eels and Canberra are the remaining chasers, all two points outside the eight.

"A kid of grade two can work out the points table ... you've got to win games," Rabbitohs coach John Lang said.

"To be perfectly honest I'm not even worried about it, we've got three games to go and we want to win them all and we start next Friday night (against Penrith)."

How the Eels' season plays out is anyone's guess as speculation swirls over the future of coach Daniel Anderson.

Chief executive Paul Osborne says no decision has been taken to remove Anderson, who has another year to run on his contract, but has confirmed he met Melbourne assistant Stephen Kearney to gauge his interest should the position become available.

Reports suggest Anderson could be sacked if the Eels fail to make the finals.

Meanwhile, the quiet-achieving Raiders have now won five of their last six and face the Dragons (home), Cowboys (home) and Broncos (away) in the run home.

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