After producing three miracle comebacks in as many weeks, the men from the foot of the mountains were finally made to pay for another inept opening in their upset loss to Newcastle on Saturday.

This time there was no fightback and as a result, the Panthers will be relying on other results going their way over the final two weeks weeks of the regular season to reclaim a top four spot.

Despite overlooking just his second match since taking over from the axed Anthony Griffin, Ciraldo is unlikely to show patience with his underperforming starters.

"We tried a few things in the lead-up to the game we thought might help," he said.

"Last week (against Gold Coast) we actually started well apart from that try we let in. Our first 20 minutes in attack and defence were pretty good so we thought we made an improvement.

"But today we didn't see that improvement. We keep having the same start with (the same) people out there. We might have to change the people who start the game."

The Panthers were without veteran playmaker James Maloney against the Knights due to a knee injury, while hard-hitting lock James Fisher-Harris (shoulder) was also a late scratching.

For the first time in three weeks, forward Trent Merrin was drafted into the starting line-up on game day but managed just 50 metres in 37 minutes of action.

He also missed three tackles.

Ciraldo also admitted he was open to giving more minutes to hooker Wayde Egan, who scored a try after coming on midway through the second half for Sione Katoa.

Making matters more complicated are potential suspensions for Viliame Kikau and Tyrone May, who were both sin-binned for punching late in the contest against the Knights.

"Well, we'll consider anyone next week. We can't keep doing what we've always done," Ciraldo said.

"I thought Wayde was really good when he came on. Every time he's come up and played he's done a really good job so we're really happy with him."

Australian Associated Press