Panthers coach Ivan Cleary says his team are swimming in “uncharted waters” after slumping to their fourth straight defeat.

Penrith were red-hot favourites to beat the Cowboys at CommBank Stadium, but despite leading 18-12 at half time, the Panthers were overrun by the visitors in the second forty in a 22-18 loss.

The Panthers are 1-4 in 2025, which is their worst start to a season since 2013. That year, Penrith missed the finals with 11 wins and 13 losses.

While Cleary cut a calm figure in Friday’s post-match press conference, he was a little lost for answers, admitting this is new territory for this group after dominating the competition for nearly half a decade.

“I’d agree there were a lot of good things tonight. The week was good but it’s clear that our flow isn’t there and some of the errors are uncharacteristic from players who woulsn’t usually do that,” Cleary said.

“We’re in sort of uncharted waters a little bit to some extent. We’ve all lost games and that but the flow that you’d like isn’t quite there.

“We have to prioritise the things we can control and we’ll be better for it.

“We feel like we can win every game … but what may have once come easily, we’re making it look hard at the moment.

“A lot of these players haven’t been there so it’s new for me too to come from where we’ve been so used to winning.”

Given the closeness of the competition this year and the fact they’ve won the past four titles, there’s no cause for panic yet Penrith fans.

Cleary definitely isn’t feeling the pressure.

When asked by a reporter when he’ll “worry about the season slipping away”, Cleary wasn’t willing to entertain that train of thought.

“I couldn’t care less about the season slipping away, honestly,” he said.

“I have complete faith in this group and what they can achieve.

“Each and every game we could have won but we’re just finding ways not to.”