They’ll travel down the road to take on a Darlington Point Coleambally Roosters side sitting in third and fresh off a loss.

Hawks coach Glenn Dumbrell isn’t taking anything for granted this week as he’s expecting it to be a hard-nosed game the whole way through.

“I’m not too certain to be quite honest,” he said.

“Probably a solid defensive effort from them because I think they pride themselves on being up in your face to put you off your game.”

He said their previous encounter in the pre-season didn’t hold much weight now.

“I haven't watched much of them and only played them once in pre-season and both teams are totally different now,” he said.

“We’ve been focusing on ourselves all year and we will continue to do that - just work on internal improvement.”

While last week’s victory over the Leeton Greens had everyone’s spirits high in the Hawks clubhouse, Dumbrell said there was still things they needed to improve on.

“One of our big goals for the season is to not leak too many points,” he said.

“Usually 20 is our number.”

The 26 given up to the Greens was the most they’d given up all season.

“That (defence) will be a main focus this week,” Dumbrell said.

“We have enough talent to score the points, we just need to make sure we don’t leak too many of them.”

Dumbrell said the team enjoyed the pace of the game last week that was set by the Group 9 referees.

“It suits our style but at the same time it makes you more susceptible to points,” he said.

“It benefits both teams and the quality of football that is played.”

The Hawks won’t be at full strength either this game.

“Dan Hyde's not looking too good for this weekend,” Dumbrell said.

“Which is a bit of a bummer because he's been good for us.

“We’ve got a few ideas in place on how and who’s going to replace him if it comes to that, but nothing set in stone.”

With a win and a Tullibigeal Lakes United loss, the Hawks will move to first on the ladder.