Penrith are already planning their retribution for Manly as they relish the opportunity of a potential NRL grudge match in week one of the finals.
The Sea Eagles’ 28-12 domination of the Panthers all but assured them of sixth position on Saturday night.
But they will meet Penrith again in an elimination final – likely to be at Allianz Stadium next Saturday – if Canterbury beat St George Illawarra on Sunday.
And Panthers winger Josh Mansour said he was already chomping at the bit to have another crack at the Sea Eagles after they conceded 28 unanswered points in the first hour at Lottoland.
“If it is them I would definitely welcome that head on,” Mansour told AAP on Saturday night.
“I would be licking my lips to get them again.
“Today we were very embarrassed and to get that opportunity to get them again, I think as a team we would love to get that challenge.”
The Panthers – who will face Cronulla if the Dragons beat the Bulldogs in the final round to go seventh – could also still be without Matt Moylan (hamstring) and Dylan Edwards (knee) for the first week of the finals.
But Mansour denied the Sea Eagles would take any psychological advantage into the match, given Penrith had also beaten Manly in July.
That result came after the Panthers flogged 42-14 by South Sydney the previous round – in easily their other worst performance of the past three months.
And Mansour said it was a sign Penrith could rebound from any result, after they became just the fourth team in history to recover from a 2-7 start to make the finals.
“We’ve been in this position before and I’m sure everyone is disappointed from the loss,” he said.
“The thing about mistakes is you’ve got to learn from the quickly. You’ve got to rectify them during the week.”
Meanwhile, Manly coach Trent Barrett said he didn’t expect to take any psychological advantage into any possible clash with Penrith.
“It starts again. They will wipe that one pretty quickly if we do (play again),” he said.
“I’m not too fussed who we play. We’ve just got to worry about ourselves. If we have the same intent and be prepared to look into a few teams, we’ll be alright.”
