Pick me at six: that's the message from Blues incumbent Matt Moylan to NSW coach Laurie Daley and may just be the tonic to cure Penrith's early season woes.

The legitimacy of the City-Country clash diminished years ago, however, it has now plunged to a farcical new low.

Penrith coach Anthony Griffin says the competition has its 'foot on the throat' of the struggling Panthers after they fell to another defeat, this time at the hands of the Broncos in Brisbane.

Bennett went out of his way to ensure Thursday's match at Suncorp Stadium was about the players, not the coaches, as the Panthers try to avoid a fifth-straight defeat in the NRL.

When David Klemmer's newborn son was admitted to intensive care more than a fortnight ago, one of the first people he rang was Aaron Woods.

Mitchell Moses could join the Parramatta Eels in the next fortnight as the Wests Tigers move to bring Panthers five-eighth Te Maire Martin back to the club this season.

Follow full live coverage of all three NRL games, kicking off with Parramatta Eels v Penrith Panthers.

More western Sydney derbies, Gus? Parramatta won't mind. Just name the time and place while the Panthers are struggling like this.

Penrith supremo Phil Gould has unloaded on the NRL over its scheduling of the traditional clash with local rivals Parramatta, declaring: "They've got no respect for the west whatsoever."

Luke Brooks was told that if he resigned with the Wests Tigers there was a possibility he would be the only member of the so called 'big four' to be at the club next season. He still signed.

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Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan and Paul Gallen sprayed Phil Gould after the win over Penrith. You'd think they would have better things to do.

The Penrith Panthers insist they didn't mean any disrespect to Cronulla after sending the club the wrong allocation of tickets for the Easter Sunday clash at Pepper Stadium.

So, when did the unpredictable Panthers become so predictable?

Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan says Gould's "soft premiership" comments earlier in the year had been a motivation behind their performance.

With glassy eyes and unsteady voice, Matt Moylan fronted the media for the first time in two weeks and said he wanted to continue as Penrith captain. He said it. He certainly didn't insist it. He didn't put anything to bed.

It wasn't that they didn't understand the language, but no one at Penrith had much of an idea what a couple of kids from the top of New Zealand's North Island were saying when they arrived at the Panthers.

Trent Merrin, the man most likely in line to succeed Matt Moylan as the Panthers' long-term captain should he ask to step down, has said he wants to see the local junior at the helm for the next decade at Penrith.

​Penrith boss Phil Gould has called on the NRL to introduce an internal draft to level the playing field and take the air out of the inflated marquee player market.

A year ago Jarryd Hayne was on the radar of almost every NRL club when he abandoned his American dream. But over the past week, with almost every off-contract NRL player linked to rival clubs, it has highlighted just how far Hayne has fallen from grace since his return to rugby league.