Hawks Confident Of Ending Drought

Illawarra Mercury

Friday December 12, 2008

By TIM KEEBLE

FOR a team stuck in a five-game losing rut, the Wollongong Hawks have a surprising spring in their step heading into tomorrow night's road duel with Townsville.

The Crocodiles limped back into Townsville yesterday after having their five-match winning streak emphatically snapped with Wednesday night's 100-79 thrashing from Adelaide.

They accounted for Wollongong by eight in the previous meeting at Townsville, but the eighth-placed Hawks believe they have worked out where they were going wrong and are confident of breaking out of their slump.

"After losing five in a row, we really need to step it up and do all the little things that are going to make us a play-off team, and if this week's trainings are any indication, it looks like we're ready to make that step," coach Eric Cooks said.

"We've taken ownership of the group as individuals and it really feels like we're on the right track. It's been real competitive and we've had some high quality scrimmages."

The Hawks have welcomed back rugged forward Anthony Petrie from a leg injury, while Dusty Rychart has shrugged off a groin ailment and shooting guard Mat Campbell has overcome a virus which slowed him last week.

Townsville got the jump on the Hawks when they last met, bolting to a 36-19 lead and forcing the Hawks to play catch-up the rest of the night.

Crocs coach Trevor Gleeson produced a masterstroke in that clash by benching regular starters Corey Williams, Russ Hinder and John Rillie, a move which caught the Hawks by surprise.

"There's a lesson to be learned from the last time we played them. They made some changes with their line-up and we can't allow them to catch us off-guard like that again," Wollongong forward Glen Saville said.

Turnovers have been a problem for the Hawks lately, but Saville claimed his side had worked hard to improve.

"One of our biggest issues has been our inability to handle pressure," he said.

"The good teams thrive on that pressure. If a team's overplaying the (passing) lane it should open up back-door cuts.

"If you can't get the ball up the floor and execute plays, if you're taking bad shots and turning the ball over, it puts a lot of pressure on the defensive end because (the opposition is) pushing the ball back down your throat.

"We want to be the ones to take the initiative and disrupt teams and get easy buckets and high percentage plays."

The Hawks (6-10) have road games against Gold Coast and Melbourne next week before returning to host the Sydney Spirit on December 27.