Ivan Cleary concedes Penrith's hunger for another NRL premiership can rightfully be questioned, admitting his team was "outwilled" by Canberra.
Penrith's shock loss to the Raiders on Saturday following a defeat by Melbourne left them fourth on the ladder, the lowest they have been at any point in the second half of a season since 2019.
Their current spot would leave the needing to go to minor premiers Melbourne for the first week of the finals, and become the first team to triumph from fourth in 15 years in order to claim a fourth straight title.
Cleary is adamant the difficult first-week road trip would not kill off his team's titles chances, but said things needed to turn around fast at the club.
"I totally believe we can win it. But we have to make a decision on whether we want to pay that price to win it," Cleary said.
"At the moment there is probably a question mark around that.
"On the weekend we didn't play anywhere near our best, and were probably outwilled by the opposition. Which can happen from time to time.
"I know we have enough in the body of work behind us this season to be able to challenge.
"If you want to go the whole way, it's not easy, and you have to pay a pretty hefty price along the way.
"But there were periods in the Storm game and games before that, and particularly on the weekend, where it's fair to question if we're prepared to pay that price."
Penrith play South Sydney on Friday night and Gold Coast in the final round, and would risk dropping out of the top four with one more loss.
The back-end of seasons has traditionally been the biggest challenge for defending premiers, with no team winning back-to-back titles between 1998 and 2018.
No team has won four straight premierships since St George's great run of 11 in the 1950s and 1960s, while Parramatta were the last team to previously win three straight between 1981 and 1983.
But Cleary said the need to find hunger and determination was nothing new for the Panthers, and they went through the same issues last year.
"Parramatta were the ones to give us a wake-up call in this round last year. It's a long season, it has ups and downs," Cleary said.
"There is a question that needs to be answered. Knowing our boys I am very hopeful they will answer it the positive way.
"We've got to be the hunters, and that will start with what we do every day."
Penrith were joined by Olympic gold medallists Jess and Noemie Fox at training on Monday, with the sisters talking through stories of their own adversities with the players.
Nathan Cleary was spotted doing some light training and passing, 11 days on from his shoulder injury against Melbourne.
The Penrith coach confirmed he still hoped to have his halfback return for week one of the finals, but said there was no chance of an earlier comeback.
