The last-placed Hawks are out to snap a nine-game losing streak when they meet the Cairns Taipans on Saturday night in Cairns. They fly to Townsville the next day for a Sunday night duel with the Crocodiles.

Last week the Hawks lost 71-55 to New Zealand after the scores were level at three-quarter-time.

McLeod made two changes to his starting line-up against the Breakers, promoting guard Rhys Martin and centre Larry Davidson in place of Gary Ervin and Luke Nevill.

Martin is likely to hold his spot this weekend, while Ervin is a chance of returning to the first five at the expense of fellow import Jahii Carson.

Carson started on the bench in the second half against New Zealand, ending with two points (1/13 field goals).

Davidson is certain to retain his position after being his team's best player against the Breakers.

McLeod knows he has to keep trying different line-ups if the Hawks are going to get back into finals contention.

"It will depend on different teams that we play," he said.

"Last week we wanted to go with more of the nucleus that had a better handle on our offensive system and what we're doing. We're endeavouring to try and tick the scoreboard over a bit and control some tempo.

"We'll evaluate [who will start] and look at the week we've had and make some decisions on that."

Guard Tyson Demos is back after missing last week's game to recover from major dental surgery.

Being unable to score consistently has been the Hawks' greatest problem.

"The real challenge at the moment is playing for four quarters and to get the offence churning out some points," McLeod said.

"The best way to do that is to get some stops and run. We did a reasonable job of that last week but we weren't able to put points on the board. We've had good looks, we're just not knocking it down.

"We're working hard on those areas and hopefully we can see some

results of that over the weekend."

McLeod said little planning had gone into Sunday's clash with Townsville.

"You jump the first hurdle first and then attack the second. That's the only way you can do it," he said.

"The first challenge is the most important challenge, the one you have to deal with.

"You hopefully learn from that and get better from that, and take that experience into the next challenge."