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Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has been left ruing 17 errors made in a win against the Wests Tigers after getting close to his full-strength side back on the park.

A lack of match practice could be blamed for a shocking Penrith error count as the Panthers welcomed back several stars in their NRL win over Wests Tigers.

But coach Ivan Cleary was hesitant to blame rustiness for the dropped balls he said became 'infectious' among 17 mistakes during the 30-16 win at Redcliffe which moved the Panthers to equal top of the NRL ladder.

NSW Origin winger Brian To'o scored and racked up 265 running metres in his return from syndesmosis surgery, while prop James Fisher-Harris started his first game in a month.

Viliame Kikau was moved back to the bench for Liam Martin to start, creating more change in the side that has been riddled with injuries and suspensions for the past few months.

Halfback Nathan Cleary notched up 1000 career points with his second goal of the day, but the milestone was overshadowed by five uncharacteristic errors from the consistent star.

Jarome Luai and Kikau also contributed to the high incompletion rate.

With one week to play before finals, coach Cleary hopes it was just a bad day.

"We created chances everywhere but we dropped the ball 17 times today and that doesn't include knock down in try-scoring situations," he said.

"If you make 17 errors you're not going to beat a top-eight side.

"Maybe, it's just one of those days.

"We had guys dropping the ball who normally wouldn't and it became contagious."

Regardless of how they won, the victory moved Penrith to equal top of the ladder with Melbourne with the minor premiership up for grabs next week.

The Storm have already indicated they will rest a number of their stars against Cronulla on Friday night.

The Panthers have opted instead to rather rest players from training, but Cleary said he would not make selection decisions based on what silverware is up for grabs against Parramatta.

He did however say there is importance in claiming the JJ Giltinan Shield.

"It's a great achievement, minor premierships, to finish the regular rounds on top shows you're the most constant team through the year," he said.

"We were honoured to win it last year and anyone who wins it should be congratulated.

"Having said that, the most important thing at the moment is the finals."