Daniel Mortimer thinks Penrith have all the making of a premiership-winning side

He won a premiership with the Sydney Roosters in 2013 and played a key role in the Eels' grand-final qualifying run in 2009.

With the NRL finals right around the corner, The Orange CYMS' captain-coach weighed in on the looming postseason and gave his assessment of a few potential premiership winners.

Despite finishing the regular season with a minor premiership and 14 consecutive wins, Mortimer feels like the Penrith Panthers are still flying somewhat under the radar, not drawing the usual respect a first-placed side would.

"I wasn't sold on the Panthers for a long time but they're so young and energetic... I'm tipping them this year," Mortimer said.

"They remind me of the Sharks in 2016 how they've timed their run. They've been the best side all year and if I had to pick someone, it would be them.

"Nathan Cleary's carrying the pressure really well, too. He had a little hiccup last year but he's turned the corner and has shown he can lead the side and allow the players around him to succeed."

Scrolling down the ladder to third position lies Mortimer's old Eels and even though they've gone somewhat stale of late, he isn't prepared to write them off before a finals game has been played.

"They're in with a crack and that's all you can ask for at finals time," he said.

"They need to turn the tide and it's going to be hard to bounce back against the Storm but Dylan Brown back at five-eighth helps them a lot. "They've copped a lot lately but now's their chance to say they're back."

The Eels will travel to Suncorp Stadium for a clash with the Melbourne Storm and enter the game as 14-point outsider.

With the way the NRL finals are structured, sides that finish inside the top four have a clear advantage when it comes to qualifying for a grand final but Mortimer thinks there's a pair of teams outside the top quarter that can shake things up if given a look-in, starting with the boys from Redfern.

"If South Sydney clicks they're a really dangerous team," he said. "We saw that last week against the Roosters. The Raiders can also give it a crack but they're still missing Hodgson a bit."