Having accepted much of the blame for Penrith's opening round thumping, coach Matthew Elliott was in no mood to take credit for orchestrating one of the biggest turnarounds in the NRL club's history.

The Panthers beat Parramatta 20-6 on Friday night to get their 2011 campaign back on track - the win a massive 48-point form reversal after their round one annihilation at the foot of the mountains at the hands of Newcastle.

Elliott claimed he was guilty of not having his side prepared for the meeting with the Knights, but there was no gloating after the controlled effort at Parramatta Stadium.

"(The media) like that word blame, don't you," Elliott said afterwards.

"When a team collectively doesn't play well, it's a reflection of what they've done collectively during the week.

"What they do collectively during the week is my responsibility - it's not about blame.

"If you don't take responsibility you don't get the opportunity to solve the problem.

"I'm sure someone a lot wiser than me came up with that."

While Elliott refused to make it personal, it was obvious the players had taken it upon themselves as individuals to lift their game, no-one more so than halfback Luke Walsh.

Walsh controlled the game with a pinpoint kicking performance which all but nullified Eels dangerman Jarryd Hayne.

Asked if the players had made it personal; Walsh said:

"I did after last week - I was off after last week," Walsh said.

"I tried to come out tonight and do what I do best and boss the team around and get the team around the park."

Another who was below par in week one was Michael Jennings, the NSW Origin centre admitting he should not have played against the Knights as he rushed back from a hamstring injury.

There was no sign of any injury against the Eels with rookie opposite Ryan Morgan no match for the explosive Panther.

"I was one of those players that didn't perform at my best," Jennings said.

"I hada look at myself and I wanted to put my all into the game."

For the Eels, coach Stephen Kearney put the loss down to a learning experience as his honeymoon introduction to the NRL coaching ranks came to an abrupt end.

"It's a good lesson for us," Kearney said.

"Our last three games - and two of them have been trials - we've skipped away to fairly decent leads and held on.

"For a lot of the guys out there who have only one, two, three NRL games to their name, it's a good learning experience - you've got to turn up every week ready to do your job.

"We're very mindful this is a long journey for us."

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