Finding a silver lining in Wollongong's lop-sided loss to Gold Coast on Saturday might be close to impossible.
But the Hawks will try to stay positive.
If nothing else, the Hawks hope the 91-50 rout might provide important answers on how to cope with an expected defensive blitz from titleholders New Zealand this weekend at WIN Entertainment Centre.
"The next game against New Zealand, we're probably playing the hottest team in the league," coach Gordie McLeod said.
"Every game's a challenge, but when you're playing the ladder leaders and reigning champions, it's big. If we're going to compete, we need everyone performing to the level they're capable of and that's what we work on every week."
Watching Wollongong's game against the Blaze was not unlike watching schoolboys against men.
The home team's take-no-prisoners defence completely baffled the Hawks, and they have now beaten Wollongong by a combined 66 points in two meetings this season.
Full coverage of the Hawks "We're going to get the same again this week because that's the way a number of teams play, so it could be good preparation for this week," McLeod said.
"We're better than what that showed. It's a situation where you have to meet fire with fire and we didn't do that and we paid the price.
"It's disappointing because we've been making some really good progress, but sometimes there are some teams that do things you really struggle with.
"Let's not take anything away from the Gold Coast, but we have to be able to adjust a lot better to it and learn to handle that style of game. We didn't do that. It's really disappointing but it's called reality.
"Guys don't go out there and just deliberately play poorly, but there's no fairy coming down from the sky and touching some things. If we want to get any results we all have to work hard and bring something to the table so we can compete as a team, and that's what we're endeavouring to do. It's not one or two people. Everyone has a responsibility."
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