His team was left battered and broken, but Penrith coach Matthew Elliott paid tribute to his players' efforts against Sydney Roosters in Saturday's NRL semi-final.

The Panthers' season was ended by the Roosters, who marched into next Friday's preliminary final against the Gold Coast in Brisbane with a comfortable 34-12 win at the Sydney Football Stadium.

The Panthers, who went into the game without Trent Waterhouse (torn pectoral) and Frank Pritchard (hamstring), lost superstar centre Michael Jennings with an ankle injury in the first 10 minutes.

They then were forced to do without inspirational backrower Luke Lewis, who sustained concussion midway through the opening period and was forced off the field for half-an-hour.

And matters got worse when Gavin Cooper, in his final game for the club before joining North Queensland, limped off with a corked quad just before halftime.

A dejected Elliott praised the Roosters' performance, but said he was full of admiration for the manner in which his depleted side kept fighting.

"I am really proud of the players' effort, we fell down in a few areas ... and our continuity was compromised coming into the game and then completely knocked out of whack when Jenko (Jennings) went off," Elliott said.

"We had a side that if we had everyone available we would certainly have been strong, and I think we showed pretty early on a determination that would have made us a handful.

"But when you lose your two key strike players so early in the game it is always going to be difficult.

"Then we lost a backrower ... it was not ideal."

Penrith skipper Petero Civoniceva echoed his coach's sentiments and said the team had come a long way this year after finishing second on the ladder and reaching the finals for the first time since 2004.

"I am immensely proud of our boys ... for the whole season and it is disappointing to go out," he said.

"But the progression of our group and the emergence of some of our young players, as a senior player is great to see.

"We kept turning up ... the easy thing to do is turn your heels up, but all season, regardless of adversity they keep turning up and you can't ask any more."

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