Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai are relishing the chance for a rare interrupted pre-season, adamant Penrith can improve in their third consecutive premiership defence.
Cleary and Luai have opted to miss the Pacific Test series to recover from the respective knee and shoulder injuries they suffered in Sunday's grand final win.
Both men went in for scans on Thursday, with Luai possibly in need of surgery after aggravating an existing shoulder injury with 20 minutes remaining against Brisbane.
"It just went numb, it felt like it was hanging there a bit," Luai said of his injury.
Cleary and Luai came into 2023 on the back of international campaigns that stretched to the World Cup final last off-season.
A year earlier, Cleary missed the 2022 pre-season and the first three regular-season rounds following a long recovery from shoulder surgery.
After the 2020 season, Cleary played for NSW in the post-season State of Origin series while other NRL players began their holidays.
Luai, meanwhile, featured for the Maori side in the All Stars match ahead of the 2021 season, cutting into his NRL preparations at the other end of the summer.
But pending the length of their recoveries, both men have the chance to enjoy a rare uninterrupted pre-season with the Panthers.
Only the World Club Challenge match against the eventual Super League premiers will take Penrith away from their regular training routine.
"It'll be good, we haven't had one (an uninterrupted pre-season) for a long time, with the World Cup," Samoan representative Luai said.
"We'll get a bit more time now. That's better for us, better for the team. I'm excited."
Luai insisted the Panthers still had improvement in them despite becoming the first team in 40 years to win three consecutive premierships with their defeat of Brisbane.
"We can always get better," he said.
"That's what's great about Nath, that's what's great about this team, we're always looking for ways to get better."
After sharing halfback duties with Daly Cherry-Evans at the World Cup, Cleary firmed as Australia's first-choice No.7 for the Pacific Test series that begins next Saturday.
Instead, he will watch from afar with the knee injury he suffered in a hip-drop tackle from Broncos prop Payne Haas.
"It's pretty disappointing," Cleary said of missing the series.
"I would've loved to have played again but the last couple of days, it's been pretty sore. I just thought it was best.
"I probably wouldn't have been able to play the first couple of games anyway."
But Cleary, the architect of Penrith's 16-point grand final comeback last Sunday, recognised the need to rest.
"It's been a pretty big year and obviously coming off a World Cup and that, so looking forward to a break," he said.
