Penrith winger Michael Gordon says the Panthers cannot afford to go into next Friday's clash with NRL ladder leaders St George Illawarra with the same poor attitude they showed against the Warriors at CUA Stadium on Saturday.

Trailing 32-6 after 55 minutes, Matthew Elliott's side looked dead and buried after a dismal first-half display, but came within a whisker of equalling the greatest comeback in NRL history to hold the Warriors to a 32-32 draw after golden point extra time.

Gordon, who kicked five conversions and a penalty, to take his tally for the season to a staggering 45 goals from 48 attempts, admitted his side were lucky to get away with a point.

"We thought this game would be a danger game for us, because the Warriors have been patchy all year, but when they are on they can perform against any side and we just turned up with the wrong attitude especially in the first half," Gordon told AAP.

"We got a fair revving at halftime and I think we needed it and maybe we needed it before the game as well, but the way we came back shows the great character in this side."

After producing a tremendous display to beat North Queensland last week, the Panthers looked a shadow of the team that won 28-20 in Townsville in the opening period.

Gordon said he thought it may be easier to prepare mentally for the clash with the Dragons, knowing it will be their toughest test of the season.

"Last week against the Cowboys where it was a tough road trip we prepared well mentally, but we let ourselves down tonight, but next week there is no bigger test," he said.

"If ever we needed reminding that you need to be on your game every week, against every team then it was tonight.

"One of the big things we spoke about was building on the win in Townsville, but our first-half performance was pretty ordinary and undone the good work we did last week.

"Although in the second half we played well, we should never have ourselves in that position.

"The Dragons are leading the comp for a reason and it will be a good benchmark to see where we are at."

The Panthers, who moved into fifth spot, ahead of Manly who play on Monday, have not featured in the semi-finals since 2004 but Gordon believes this current side has the ability to make a splash should they qualify this year.

"I think if we get into the finals then I think we could give it a real shake, we just need to build a bit of momentum and get a few troops back and we can do something."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP