HOOPLA: COVID hurdles a test of character for Hawks

That early test is something it benefitted from last season, going 4-0 on the road in a scenario that saw them based first in Albury and then far North Queensland due to a COVID outbreak in Sydney.

It also came with the club's two marquee players Deng Adel and Cam Bairstow sidelined with injuries that contributed to both departing before the season was out.

The stretch also included the NBL Cup in Melbourne that saw the Hawks play 16 of 17 games on the road to start the season.

Brian Goorjian's upgraded roster were an impressive 3-0 to start this season, two wins coming on the road, before dropping their first game to Brisbane last week.

It included a double-overtime victory over the Breakers in a home-opener in Wollongong.

The club was looking at setting up camp for a month-long stretch of home games to really set its campaign in motion before a COVID outbreak within the club slammed on the breaks.

It saw the game-day postponement of the club's clash with the Phoenix, with the NBL subsequently postponing clashes with Sydney and Cairns scheduled for this week.

The positive tests followed a road trip to Brisbane, with the Bullets organisation also returning positives that saw the Boxing Day Queensland derby with Cairns also postponed.

The Hawks will return to the floor at home against Melbourne United on January 9, with home games against fellow heavyweights Perth and South East Melbourne in the ensuing fortnight.

While a gruelling road schedule shaped as the test last season, it's a lack of action that could be challenging this campaign.

When you consider the Hawks had two pre-season fixtures cancelled due to the COVID, Goorjian's had far less time on the floor than he would've liked.

He's been candid about that fact despite some performances from genuine studs at his disposal getting across the line in three of four games.

With Goorjian, his entire roster and staff presently subject to varying health and isolation protocols, it's still not clear when they'll be able to return to the practice floor as a unit.

Read more: Hawks call for training exemptions amid COVID Christmas chaos

The clash with United shapes as starting again. Even if they do get their campaign back underway, it could again prove a false start.

It's a reality Hawks president Dorry Kordahi is painfully awake to, but it underlines the importance of a strong start they'll need to replicate when they do reboot.

"The start we had has been fantastic," Kordahi said.

"It's the same sort of start we had last season, we were 4-0 then. We're still trying to find our feet and get those rotations right, which Brian has said.

"This is a small setback but I think it will build our resilience and our commitment as a team and hopefully make us stronger as a group and more robust.

"We just have to look at it and turn a negative into a positive and, overall, we're happy with where we are.

"The Breakers are not an easy team to beat. I thought that [home-opener] was a character-building game for us as a team and as individuals.

"We were down by 14 against Brisbane and we were able to bring it back [to level the scores]. We played pretty ordinary and almost pulled it off so there's a lot of upside to what we're doing and some promising signs there."

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