Panthers have Billy's back as judiciary hearing looms

Viliame Kikau's Penrith teammates are right behind the back-rower's bid to clear his name on a dangerous throw charge at Tuesday night's NRL judiciary.

Privately, there are a few nerves at the club at the thought of losing an edge forward who's made 61 tackle breaks – five against the Roosters in last Friday's qualifying final – and scored seven tries this year while averaging 100 metres per game.

Publicly, teammates Zane Tetevano and Dylan Edwards are hopeful Kikau's tackle on Jared Waerea-Hargreaves doesn't lead to a one-match ban with the Panthers' next game a grand final qualifier on Saturday week against the winner of this weekend's Rabbitohs v Eels semi-final.

"I'm not sure what to make of the tackle. I definitely don't think there was much in it, hopefully he's all right," Edwards said.

"The result will be what will be but fingers crossed it's a good result for us.

"He's massive and a crucial part of our side. He's played great footy all year and the gap between his best and worst performances is very little."

Tetevano answered his own question on Kikau's value.

"What does he bring? You see what he does. But we've got good depth with someone like Kurt Capewell there who can fill that position," Tetevano said.

"As a team we are a team so if things don't pan out then someone will fill that position. We just keep moving forward."

No surprise on how much Tetevano is looking forward to perhaps winning a third premiership ring.

He buried the first with his grandfather in 2018, and then last year's was a gift from Roosters coach Trent Robinson because the Kiwis prop missed out on making his 17 against Canberra.

So a 2020 ring with his new club Penrith would again tug at the heart strings.

"I'm not going to lie. I can visualise those moments and then I pull myself back," Tetevano said.

"I think this one would be pretty special to me as well. I'm looking forward to it but not looking too far ahead."

Indeed. There's a match to play first – meeting the winner of Saturday night's Eels v Rabbitohs semi-final in the following weekend's preliminary final before we get to October 25.

The last time Tetevano played in a preliminary final – 2019 with the Roosters – his season ended there.

Now he's back in the saddle and not surprised one bit considering the Panthers personnel.

"When I had my first look and saw the way the boys were training – the enthusiasm and staff – I knew this was a great team. So it was pretty easy to come here," he said.

Tetevano identified three things the Panthers want to fix up before the preliminary final after coming perilously close to losing against the Roosters 29-28.

"Obviously our start, our last plays and missed tackles. We're not too happy about those."

The Roosters skipped away to a 10-0 lead, the Panthers had only one forced drop out, and missed 42 tackles – compared with the Roosters' 25.

One Panthers defender not happy with his effort was Edwards – three missed tackles from three attempted.

"There's tackles there a fullback should make or do a better job than what I did," Edwards said.

"It's something I'll be addressing and working on the next two weeks to make sure that doesn't happen again.

"Try savers are crucial in any game but especially finals."