Penrith have impressed Trent Robinson but the Roosters coach doesn't consider them the benchmark of the NRL, declaring his side was ready to make the Panthers feel uncomfortable on Friday night at Allianz Stadium.
He was taking the opposite approach to Penrith mentor Anthony Griffin, who earlier on Thursday was talking up the Tricolours' past month of footy.
Penrith scraped past the Raiders 23-22 in Canberra two days after Origin 1 but prior to the bye put together their best performance of the year to thump the Dragons 28-2 in a top-of-the-table clash in round 12.
But Robinson wasn't one to talk the Western Sydney club up or label them a benchmark side in 2018.
"Not really, they've had a good start to the year but there's a long way to go," Robinson said.
"They move the ball a bit but the execution hasn't always been there for them as far as attacking goes.
"There's lots of things I'm sure they want to work on and we're pretty clear about how we want to play.
"We've had a special week with preparation, we need to show that and make them uncomfortable."
The Roosters have held on for two-point victories in the past fortnight after blowing the Titans away on the Central Coast in May.
Their ability to win big and back it up with tight victories has been the most impressive aspect of their play, according to Robinson.
"You've got to be able to win in different ways in this competition," he said.
"We've had our last two that have been tight and improved from the Wests Tigers game to Newcastle game with how we finish that off.
"That showed in the composure at the end of the game. Your ability to play strong in the last 10 minutes is really good and I feel like we've had improvement there over the last month."
Roosters utility Victor Radley has been regularly praised for his defensive efforts and Robinson said he was merely part of a wider tackling machine.
"It's something that he does but it's a Roosters style as well, that's what we do," he said.
"You can win without the ball, it's not trumpeted in the way people commentate our game. People only look at 50% of the game and they're missing half of it – defence.
"Our house is built on that, we've been very strong this year and have prepared well. We're looking forward to it opening up a bit and us showing what we can do with the ball.
"We know what we want to do and understand what's coming but we're searching to be the best in that area. We're improving but we've got more left in us."