It might have only been a round one encounter, but Illawarra’s heartbreaking 88-87 loss to the Cairns Taipans in North Queensland still stings Hawks coach Rob Beveridge and his troops.

Illawarra always looked to be in control of the early season road contest.

But things got tight down the stretch they fell apart and it hasn’t been forgotten more than a month later.

"We are filthy about that loss," Beveridge said. "We are kicking ourselves. When you control a game for a lot of it and then loss it down the stretch.

"It is probably exactly the same as how Sydney are feeling [after Thursday night]. They were the better team for most of the game and it was one that got away for them.

"It was exactly the same for us. It hurts and we want to go up there, and I hate to say redeem ourselves, but we know we are a pretty good team."

Illawarra will return to North Queensland on Saturday night to face the Taipans for the second time this season.

It comes just 48 hours after they came from 17 points down in the third quarter against arch rivals to snatch a remarkable 97-93 victory on their home floor at WIN Entertainment Centre.

Unlike the Hawks, Cairns only have one match in round seven. 

"They are waiting for us,” Beveridge said.

“They are probably looking at what we are doing defensively which is pretty good at the moment.

"Aaron Fearne is a master coach that puts in incredible game plans so we have less than 24 hours really to now focus on them.

"It is a massive challenge but we have one game to go then we get a two week break.

"We are really looking forward to that so we are going to give absolutely everything on Saturday night."

Beveridge admitted the Hawks would take an abundance of confidence out of their win over Sydney heading into their clash with the Taipans.

Illawarra never looked likely of beating the Kings through the first three quarters before outscoring the Andrew Gaze’s struggling side 24-8 in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

In the added period they held nerves of steel to pull off one of the best comebacks in the club’s history and boost their record to 5-5 on the season.

“The character of these guys is just amazing,” Beveridge said.

“When I look back at a lot of the teams I have coached [I see] that these guys are just amazing people.

“I spoke to them in the change room.

“We know we had a horrific start to the season with a heap of road games and things like that.

“You can use that as an excuse or you can use that to have some unity in your group.

“We selected a group of guys who are high character people.

“It’s a massive thing that we have as a group that we all know what our jobs are.”