The Breakers won nine straight games to all but assure themselves a playoffs spot early in their campaign but have now lost six of their last nine. It’s a fact not lost on coach Paul Henare who bemoaned his side’s inconsistency, not merely week to week, but quarter to quarter, following his side’s loss to Illawarra on Saturday.

“For whatever reason we just can’t sustain discipline and momentum, whatever you want to call it and it’s an issue right now,” Henare said.

“We haven’t been able to put the foot on anyone’s throat and until we get that killer instinct we’re going to allow teams to hang around and teams are too good at this stage of the year to give an extra sniff.

“It’s not about blowing teams out by 20 points, that’s tough to do in this competition, but just having more awareness and more alertness for 40 minutes is definitely a challenge for us.”

The Hawks will be hoping that continues as they face the Breakers three more times before the seasons out.

“[Illawarra] are in a dogfight trying to get in, we’re in a dogfight trying to get in,” Henare said.

“It’s the old cliche that every one’s a big one from here on in.”