After a tough away trip to Hay, Griffith Black and Whites return home to Solar Mad Stadium to take on Yanco-Wamoon on Sunday afternoon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Panthers escaped from Hay with a two-point and coach Andrew Lavaka was pleased his side were able to come away with the win.
“It was a pretty tough effort,” he said.
“We are down on troops, but I’m not using that as an excuse. We got the two points which was the important part.
“I’m confident we can keep the momentum moving forward coming back home.”
It has been a tough start to the season for the defending premiers as they have only picked up two wins from the first five rounds while the Hawks have also had a tough start to the season as they are yet to open their account.
Hawks coach Nick Puntoriero is only “slightly worried” his team is yet to win a match, but he believes the Hawks are on the right track.
“I am slightly worried, but I always thought we would have a slow start to the year,” he said.
“We’ve just had a new front rower from New Zealand start with us, so that’s promising.”
Lavaka knows where his side needs to improve if they are to head into their bye in round seven with the momentum they need.
“If we are able to complete our sets this weekend we should be in a good position,” he said.
“We will also need to be strong in defence. That will be one of the biggest keys.”
The Hawks are going with a similar side to the one which travelled to West Wyalong a fortnight ago, but there will be some positional changes.
“Against West Wyalong, we shot ourselves in the foot a bit with a few mistakes from guys that don’t normally make them,” Puntoriero said.
“We’ve been working on our defence patterns at training. Concentrating on our ruck defence, that sort of thing.”
The first-grade game at Solar Mad Stadium will start at around 3pm.