The Hawks moved to 6-4 on the season with a 19-point road victory over Cairns on Saturday to consolidate fourth spot on the ladder.

It followed a 2-3 run at home that included a tight loss to league leaders Melbourne United, and two defeats to defending champions Perth.

It leaves a loss to Brisbane (currently fifth) the only game dropped to a team outside the top four, with a home-away double against third-placed South East Melbourne looming in the next fortnight.

With its back-end schedule likely to be road-heavy, Goorjian said his team simply must continue to take care of business, home or away, against teams below them on the ladder.

"[The Taipans win] was really important after we lost three out of four at home, which really puts you under the eight-ball," Goorjian said.

"Now you're in that group trying to stay in contention with the four, you've got to win somewhere.

"We had that block where we had to play those top two teams and we didn't get that done. There's a lot of cracks for us on and off the floor [that need fixing] to get to that bar of a Perth or a Melbourne.

"One of them is stepping up and winning a games like [Saturday night] after you've been beaten by the better ones. It's easy to think 'oh we'll just get this one' and then you get beat.

"We're trying to build a culture here that we play hard every night, we handle the losses and the wins the same, and we're ready to play the next one, and the next one.

"There's still a process to go, but I do like the way we've handled that."

The Hawks produced a similar response to their first Perth loss, backing up two days later to see off Adelaide in Wollongong.

Read more: Hawks steady the ship with gritty win over Taipans

They next face a desperate New Zealand in Hobart on Wednesday, the type of test that is the true measure of a benchmark franchise.

"You look at Tasmania right now in their first year and [it's] a build," Goorjian said.

"I haven't walked into a [South East Melbourne] or walked into Melbourne or Perth. It's a brand new franchise, a brand new team.

"We punched above our weight and we made the finals last year, but you're not just going through this thing unscathed. You don't walk through one year and [then] win the championship and dominate.

"Regardless of the wins and losses, as an organisation, we've put a better team together, we're growing, but we've proven just recently that we're not there yet."

The win over an admittedly undermanned Taipans was a step in the right direction, particularly defensively.

"We played better, we moved the ball better, we rebounded better and, not only did we win, I thought we played well," Goorjian said.

"[Adam Forde] has them playing so hard on the defensive end of the floor with the guys they have down offensively.

"The most difficult thing was getting a good shot against their pressure and defending their on-ball rollouts. We tightened that up and they had 40 at halftime and we held them to 74.

"I've made comment on the struggle for us defensively, so we tightened up the d and got good shots against their pressure which is not easy to do."

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