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Nathan Cleary's right eye remains bloodshot from his State of Origin badge of honour, but four days off have left him mentally fresh to return to the NRL.

Nathan Cleary's bloodshot right eye screams of a man still feeling the effects of State of Origin, but the Penrith halfback is mentally ready for an NRL return.

Cleary will make his return for Penrith in Friday night's blockbuster against the Sydney Roosters after being given a clean break from rugby league last weekend.

Traditionally, Origin stars find the drop back to club football during the representative period one of the hardest to manage mentally.

But Cleary believes he has found his tonic for the challenge, having endured mixed success during the period in 2018 and 2019.

"It's probably mentally, just trying to get the peace of mind and clear head," Cleary said.

"I play my best footy when I have clear head going into a game. I feel that way this week and again it's something I am looking forward to.

"It's a lot around just putting the team first and and putting all my energy into Penrith and thinking about Origin after that."

Speaking at Penrith training on Wednesday, Cleary is still sporting the stitches in his right cheekbone after copping friendly fire from Tom Trbojevic in Origin I.

Some discolouration is still evident around his right eye, but Cleary insists there is no blurred vision and he is in no doubt to face the Roosters.

Instead, the only treatment needed for Cleary and the Panthers' other rested Origin stars was time away from training and their only NRL involvement watching Penrith's loss to Cronulla last Friday.

"I had four days off," Cleary said.

"It was just good catching up with family and friends. I still have a pretty tight group outside of footy which is also good.

"It's the best way to take your mind off things. I live with two guys who are tradies so it's good just to talk to those guys.

"It definitely helps to relax a bit and get away from footy for a few days.

"And then the boys coming back from Origin on Monday, once we trained on Monday we were pretty pumped and ready to go this week."

The Panthers do need their big guns back firing, after losing two straight without them and spending just their third week below top spot on the NRL ladder since July

"We've been fortunate enough we put ourselves in a good position with early wins," Penrith and NSW lock Isaah Yeo said.

"But every time you have back to back losses it gives you extra pressure you don't want or need.

"The players who play in those (Origin) games are the leaders in your group anyway. We know we need to be good but we just need to be doing our job."