Panthers lost to Roosters before kick-off: coach Cleary

Four-time reigning premiers Penrith were doomed to suffer a shock loss to the Sydney Roosters even before the match kicked off.

That's the verdict of coach Ivan Cleary, who said the Panthers "undoubtedly" underestimated the Roosters before a defeat that shapes as a contender for upset of the year.

Missing almost 800 games and seven premierships worth of experience, Easts were $11 outsiders before kick-off at CommBank Stadium in round two.

But the Roosters were the better side on Friday night, when Daniel Tupou's cover tackle on Brian To'o halted Penrith's comeback and sealed a shock 38-32 win on the last play of the game.

Penrith had enjoyed a weekend off before the game, having beaten Cronulla in Las Vegas in round one, and watched from the couch as Brisbane belted the Roosters last Thursday.

When Penrith centre Paul Alamoti ran in a soft first try inside three minutes, Cleary admitted his charges probably felt they were in for an easy night at the office.

"Undoubtedly some part of that would be true," he said.

Penrith missed 43 tackles, with Lindsay Smith the only member of the starting team not to register in that statistic.

Since surging to premiership heavyweight status in 2020, the Panthers have not conceded more points in a game than the 38 they bled against the Roosters.

Coach Cleary felt the Panthers came unprepared into their first game at their adoptive home stadium.

"That game was lost before we got here, I think, for whatever reason," he said.

"We never got here thinking we were going to be perfect and that's never something we talk about. Even in the first round we weren't perfect at all.

"But there were enough players tonight that weren't anywhere near their best. Collectively, we didn't play anywhere near what we'd like to."

The Panthers started each of the previous two seasons with a 1-1 record before going on to win the premiership.

The side memorably dropped two of their first three games, plus the World Club Challenge, on their way to a third consecutive title in 2023.

Cleary is remaining calm ahead of next week's grand final rematch against Melbourne, who will be fresh coming off the bye.

"Pretty much every year you'll see swings in performance by lots of teams at the start of the year," he said.

"You'll see a good game and then maybe not such a good game. That's fairly normal. But it's not something you'd accept."