Add in the venue being the pre-game match before a top-notch NRL clash, and you'd be right in thinking that the Bears were well and truly up against it on Saturday.

Coach Ben McKenna had acknowledged that Panther's would be hard to beat, but was happy to be the first to have a crack at them.

That crack though turned into only a slight fissure with the Panthers hitting the new year just as they finished the last one.

Hard.

Led by warhorse prop Brent Seager and finished off by some silky smooth backline moves from new recruits Louis Murphy and Kevin Murray, the men in black kicked off their premiership defence with a convincing 44-10 triumph over Blayney.

Played in the lead-up to Saturday night's NRL clash between the Penrith Panthers and the Melbourne Storm, the 2018 Group 10 champions skipped out to a 22-6 lead at the break before completing a tricky, earlier-than-normal round one assignment with four more tries in the second term.

The Dave Scott medalist Seager paved the way for his side's new-look backline and with Willie Wright pulling all the right strings new faces like Murray and Murphy shone, the former providing Panthers' right edge with some serious potency.

Seager said the plan in 2019 hasn't changed after a hugely successful run to the title last winter, although he's acutely aware the task has been made tougher carrying the premiers tag.

"We've got that target on our backs now being premiers but we're ready for it and hopefully we can go again," Seager said.

He capped last year's competition with a sideline conversion to win the title and this year Wright opened the scoring, slicing through to score the first try of the 2019 Group 10 season.

Rangy winger Murphy, new lock Max Gay and Western Rams representative Jed Betts each got on the board in the opening half as Panthers ran out to a 22-6 lead at the break.

That margin, though, was reduced five minutes into the new term when evergreen Bears recruit Steve Lane injected himself into the contest.

The mercurial five-eighth chipped ahead for himself on the half-way line then sped into the backfield, toed ahead his second kick and a flying Lhiam Burrell picked up the loose ball and scored a great Bears try, taking the score to 22-10.

Blayney butchered the ensuing kick-off though - the ball went dead forcing the Bears into a drop-out - and any wind they had in their sales after the Burrell try was dissipated swiftly.

Blayney backrower Ryan Oborn said the Bears would look to build on what was a fairly solid opening half.

"It wasn't too bad for us considering the boys were up against the premiers and it's still only round one so it's not too bad," he said.

"But there's definitely a lot of room to improve, especially with our defence."