Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett says his team will give opposition Penrith all the respect they deserve in Thursday night football at Suncorp Stadium.

The Panthers are 2-6 and desperately need to start a winning streak but will have a time of it against a Broncos side that escaped with a one point win last weekend against South Sydney.

“They [Penrith] have a very talented football team and if you don’t respect that you are lying to yourself,” Bennett said.

“They are very capable, and have just had a bad start to the season.”

Asked what the Broncos needed to improve, Bennett was adamant his team needed to start closing out games. Only an Anthony Milford field goal got them home last round against Souths.

“Not inviting teams back into the game,” he said when asked where he wanted to see improvement” he said.

“It was a key thing as we had a good lead at halftime.

“I didn’t think it was their good play that got them back, it was an accumulation of things we did just after halftime.

“But to our credit we showed fighting spirit and came back into the game.

“With 20 minutes to go it was 24-18 but they got themselves back on track on got them on top with a win.”