Thirroul captain-coach Luke Swain is desperate to solve some of the problems the "disjointed" Butchers are facing as they tackle a resurgent Corrimal at Ziems Park on Saturday.

The Butchers are coming off two straight losses, including a 22-18 defeat at the hands of Helensburgh in a brutal northern derby last week.

The resurgent Cougars come into the match on the back of their first brace of consecutive victories in several seasons but will still start as underdogs against the defending premiers.

The Butchers have so far saved their best performances for the Challenge Cup, in which they've notched impressive victories over Collegians and Wests but a 34-16 victory over Corrimal in round two remains their only win of the year in the competition proper.

Three successive losses would leave the Butchers plenty of work to do later in the year and Swain says it's vital his side starts to build some momentum.

"We really need to kick again to create some momentum into the season," Swain said.

"We've gone a bit disjointed, losing a few on the trot and we need to get back to our winning ways."

Swain said his side would be buoyed by their spirited performance - in which they staged a brave late comeback - against the Tigers last week despite the loss.

"We never give up and that's one thing I really admire about the boys and this club," he said.

"The Butchers play to the finish, no-one ever chucks the towel in but definitely execution let us down. We had a couple of dropped balls at crucial times and a bit of structure and a bit of shape wasn't there. We had a new halves combination with Ty McCarthy and Zac Green coming back in.

"I think we overplayed our hand a little bit and didn't really stick to what we know works for us. When they finally got out of their half and scored that try ... instead of just going back to the grind we made things up because we were a bit frustrated by how well they defended."

Swain is expecting the Cougars to be a much sterner test for his side than when they met in round two

"They're coming into a bit of form and from what I've seen on the video they're playing pretty well," Swain said.

ILLAWARRA COAL LEAGUE

Round seven

Saturday (3pm)

COLLEGIANS v HELENSBURGH at Collegians Sports Complex

CORRIMAL v THIRROUL at Ziems Park

Sunday (3pm)

WESTERN SUBURBS v DAPTO at Parrish Park