Mathematics isn't usually his strongest suit, but Wollongong captain Mat Campbell has been brushing up on fractions lately.The eighth-placed Hawks have played nine of their 28 regular-season games, winning just three.But they remain optimistic, despite the loss of rugged forward Dave Gruber for several weeks with a broken hand.Campbell has broken the season into three parts and believes the Hawks are over the worst stage of their schedule.
Full coverage of the Hawks Wollongong play their first game in two weeks on Saturday night when they take on the Crocodiles in Townsville."We knew this first part of the season was going to be tough, but if we can now get on a bit of a run and get through the next third of the season with a winning record, we'll be okay for the rest of the year," Campbell said."[Coach] Gordie [McLeod] always talks about it being a marathon, and though we haven't started well, if we find our straps and come home strong, then we're a good chance."Last year we started 9-2 and then we lost nine in a row."If you break last season into thirds, we were good at the start, crap in the middle and then we were great coming home. Hopefully we've gotten through our crap third of the season and we'll finish with two good thirds."Last year our form running into the finals was perfect. Hopefully we can do that again."The one thing we've gotten from the nine games we've played is that we're good enough to play with every team."Gruber's absence has opened the door for 11th-man Dan Jackson to return to the 10-man playing roster.Townsville are one spot above the Hawks but are on the same amount of wins."This is a huge game for us. We have to go up to Townsville and get a win," Campbell said."It was good for us to have a weekend off, just to get away from basketball."Grubes was just starting to find some form so it's pretty bad luck. When things aren't going your way, you need everything to fall into place for you, so Grubes' injury is a bit of a kick in the guts."The thing is we've been used to dealing with injuries over the last couple of years, so it's important we get into the grind and make sure we cover what he was doing for us."
