IT WAS snowing as the players warmed up before yesterday's match at Canberra Stadium but the reception Penrith coach Matthew Elliott gave his charges after their record 74-12 loss was far icier than the conditions they experienced on the field.

With the Panthers needing to win to consolidate their place in the top eight, Elliott questioned the attitude of his players and admitted he was concerned at what impact such a heavy defeat would have on them for the rest of the season.

After the match, Elliott spent a considerable period of time in the dressing room with the Penrith players and while he later declined to discuss what had been said, the former Raiders mentor admitted it was the worst defeat he had experienced in eight years of NRL coaching.

"You can talk about everything else but our attitude was poor today and we got our pants pulled down, bums spanked and whatever happens after that occurred as well," Elliott said.

"I'd love to be able to give you an explanation but at this point I don't have one.

"The opposition was fabulous but our application was poor. When you think that it was sixth spot on the line for us, it is a little hard to swallow."

The loss will see the Panthers slip from seventh to 11th after tonight's Gold Coast-Newcastle match, with that winner to join the Raiders, Wests Tigers, St George Illawarra and the Warriors on 24 points - one ahead of Penrith.

As a result, the Panthers need to win three of their last four matches for a finals berth but face a tough task as they face the Bulldogs (home), Melbourne (home), the Warriors (away) and Manly (home).

The 62-point win is a huge boost to Canberra's for-and-against (+72) and they have leapfrogged the Dragons into sixth after that team's loss to the Tigers on Friday night.

With Newcastle (home), South Sydney (away), North Queensland (away) and the Bulldogs (home) as their remaining opponents, the emphatic win has put the Raiders in a strong position to secure a finals berth.

"There was only 6000 people here and it was snowing when we were warming up but coming towards the end of the game it sounded like a full house, which was awesome," five-eighth Terry Campese said.

Canberra's only downside was the loss of hooker Glen Buttriss with a knee injury likely to end his season.