The Cairns Taipans forward thrived during his one season under Wollongong coach Gordie McLeod, playing a key role in the team's charge to the 2010 championship series against the Perth Wildcats. He expects the Hawks to be much more competitive than their dismal 1-9 record would suggest when they square off with the Taipans on Saturday night in Cairns.

"They'll come with plenty of fight," Tragardh said.

"They've got some pretty proud guys on the team who are going to play hard.

"We were in a similar hole last year. We were two and seven at this point last year, riding a seven-game losing skid.

"I can talk from experience that we still had great belief in the group and what we could do. We turned it around and finished one game short of the playoffs.

"Even when you're on these big losing streaks you still keep great self-belief, and there's no-one better than Gordie at keeping belief in a team. We simply can't under-estimate them at all.

"I'd just like to win against them in Cairns. I don't think I've beaten Wollongong in Cairns in the three years I've been here."

Indeed, the Taipans and Hawks have developed a strange rivalry over the past few years, with the away team usually prevailing.

"We seem to win in Wollongong but we struggle to beat them in Cairns," Tragardh said.

"We'll try and break the hoodoo on Saturday night, but you take the Hawks lightly at your peril."

The Hawks fly to north Queensland on Friday and play Townsville 24 hours after the clash with Cairns.

The Taipans had a road game against Sydney on Thursday night.

After starting the season the season with six straight wins, Cairns have lost three in a row to New Zealand, Melbourne and Sydney.