Last year the Raiders played in eight games decided by four points or less, and while they lost six of those, including two decided by field goals, both hooker Josh Hodgson and lock Shaun Fensom said that experience would stand them in good stead against the Panthers at Bathurst on Saturday.

Penrith might be 12th on the ladder, with three wins from eight games, but their biggest margin this season has been eight points - in their round-one loss to the Raiders at Canberra Stadium.

It points towards another tight one when they meet again this weekend.

Hodgson said the Raiders had practised what to do in tight situations, and last year's experience would help them against the Panthers.

"I think we did [learn] in terms of close games. We're still learning as a team, we've still got a fairly young squad and we're still going to learn as we go along, but we took a lot from last year," he said.

"I think it was something ridiculous like 10 games by four points or less. You definitely do take a lot out of that when you're on the wrong end of that scoreline and you've had a lot of hurt from that week.

"We've definitely done a lot more training and practice on it this year and obviously experience from last year helps."

The tireless Fensom agreed and said the Raiders needed to stick to what was working well for them.

Fensom said he and the rest of the Raiders' leadership group had been trying to take the pressure off coach Ricky Stuart and captain Jarrod Croker, especially during the fortnight when the Raiders suffered back-to-back heavy losses to Parramatta and Cronulla.

He said they'd been working to "get the boys back up", which had worked in the 54-point thumping of Wests Tigers.

"It's going to be a very big battle in the forwards. They've got some very big players and so do we. They've lost a few games by very few points so they'll be desperate for a win," he said.

"It does [help us, playing in close games last year]. We know how desperate they're going to be because we have been on that side of the situation. Last year we had a fair few close losses and we know how desperate we were.

"We just need to stick to what works for us - running hard, tackling hard, that works for us. We have to do that this week to have the same performance."

Putting in the same performance consistently is something the Raiders are trying to bring in to their game. They spoke about ensuring they provide the same effort against the Panthers as they did against Wests.

Hodgson said the Raiders were aggressive, tough defensively and "carried it strong in attack" and the focus was on replicating that this week in Bathurst.

"That was something we spoke about as soon as we came in the day after the win, that we had to go again this week, and that it's a massive week not only in terms of the league table but in terms of confidence and consistency as a squad," Hodgson said.

NRL ROUND 9

Saturday: Penrith Panthers v Canberra Raiders at Bathurst, 3pm. Live on Fox Sports 1.