The Panthers will have a rematch of last year's Bathurst game when they take on the Wests Tigers this weekend.

Cleary fronted the media this week and expressed how much the team enjoys the journey over the mountains and how important the region has become for his club.

"Country footy is something that everyone should keep looking at. I think the town really gets behind us and gets behind the game," he said.

"It's a part of what we like to call our 'footprint' out there in Central West NSW. We always look forward to going out there. Hopefully we can play a bit better than last time."

Tigers will be out to repeat last year's shock win at Bathurst when they prevailed 12-8 rainy conditions over the Panthers.

Panthers and Tigers each come to Bathurst on the back of defeats, with Penrith going down 32-18 to the Manly Sea Eagles (prior to last weekend's bye) and the Tigers losing 24-12 to the St George Illawarra Dragons.

Like last season Cleary expects a determined Tigers side to turn up at Carrington Park.

"They look good. Most teams at the moment are trying to find their feet at the moment, and consistency is unusual to see around the league at the moment," he said.

"The Tigers have definitely had some good games and some good moments. Their players are a real threat, for sure."

The big news in the lead up to Penrith's match in Bathurst was that halfback Nathan Cleary would not be recover in time from a hamstring injury to take the field.

Ivan Cleary said that the halfback "could have played" in the Bathurst match but the club didn't want to risk aggravating his injury.

"We're worrying more about who's playing than who isn't," he said.

"It's different in finals time when it's do or die and you're willing to take more risks. At this time of year we're more cautious but sometimes we're not - every player wants to play every game and there's lots of factors that go into it."

Panthers and Tigers kick-off at Carrington Park on Saturday at 3pm.