Isaah Yeo insists Penrith won't fall victim to a second World Club Challenge "hangover'', but history is stacked against the Panthers as they look for a strong start to another premiership defence.
With last month's 16-12 loss to Wigan, the Panthers became the seventh Australian club in the past 20 years to travel to England for the World Club Challenge and suffer defeat.
None of those six previous travelling teams posted a winning record in the first month of the NRL season after losing to their English hosts.
Four of the six started the season 2-2, with the other two sputtering to only one win from four games.
Following their slow starts, reigning premiers Canterbury and Wests Tigers missed finals altogether in the 2005 and 2006 seasons, respectively.
By contrast, of the seven NRL teams that won the World Club Challenge in England in the same time-frame, four began their premiership defence with winning records. All seven went on to play finals.
After losing to St Helens in last year's World Club Challenge, Penrith won only one of three games across the first month of the 2023 season.
Nathan Cleary told AAP last month that the loss left the Panthers with a "hangover" to begin 2023, though they ultimately cleaned up their act to hoist the trophy aloft for a third consecutive season.
Yeo, Penrith's other co-captain, said the side was well-placed to avoid a repeat of last year's slow start.
"I feel like we've got a better gauge of how we want to play," he told AAP.
"Obviously there's been evolution on both sides of the ball, not just attack but defence as well. I think we're focused on that.
"We're not expecting to play our best football, you never do, at the start of the season.
"But we just want to set ourselves up with a really good foundation. I feel like we showed that in the game (against Wigan)."
A tough draw will work against the Panthers - they face Melbourne, Parramatta, Brisbane and the Sydney Roosters in the first month.
Three of those sides played finals in 2023 and the other, the Eels, held a winning record over the Panthers last season.
"When you've got a draw like that at the start of the year, it's going to help you set up for the back end. That's how we're looking at it," Yeo said.
"You've got to beat everyone and you've got to verse (sic) everyone at some point, don't you?"
Yeo said despite the result, the trip to England was a success for the Panthers, who had not previously travelled outside of Oceania as a squad.
"I reckon there are a bucket-load of positives," he said.
"Clubs are spending a fortune to go on camps for three or four days.
"We were lucky enough to go and get a 10-day one over the other side of the world and experience things that we'll probably never experience again.
"In terms of that, I think that'll do us really good. The result, too, that probably helps spur us on."
REIGNING PREMIERS' FIRST FOUR GAMES ON RETURN FROM LOSING THE WORLD CLUB CHALLENGE IN ENGLAND
Cronulla (2017): 2-2
Manly (2012): 2-2
Melbourne (2008): 2-2
Brisbane (2007): 1-3
Wests Tigers (2006): 2-2
Bulldogs (2005): 1-3
