He's spent just two seasons in Wollongong but Illawarra captain Tyler Harvey has seen the Hawks written off more times than he can count.
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Illawarra produced a hot 5-0 start in Harvey's first season in Hawks garb before falling into mid-season hole. Last season the Hawks dropped several early games at home and had to turn the ship around on the road.
In both campaigns people were all too keen to rub them out of finals contention only to be proven wrong.
While the current season is in its infancy, the pre-season loss of Duop Reath and Antonius Cleveland, and a season-ending injury to star import Justin Robinson, has added extra doomsday juice to a 1-3 start.
Under the circumstances, a 2-3 start (2-1 at home) with a win over New Zealand on Monday would be a more than solid platform with import re-enforcement looming on other side of the clash in Wollongong.
Beyond that, Jacob Jackomas' team will have a full seven days to prepare for the Bullets at home. For his part, Harvey has seen his team clear far bigger hurdles than the present run.
"We're only four games in, we will turn this thing around," Harvey said following the Hawks road loss to Adelaide on Saturday.
"Obviously no season is the same [as another]. We've been fortunate enough the last two seasons to start off hot, but this is a new year, we have new pieces.
"The good thing is, every one of those years we've always come out of these little rough patches and become a better team that peaks at the right time.
"It's tough right now going through this, we'll watch film and learn from it, but you have to have a short memory in this league.
"We come back Monday and play another tough team so, if we dwell on this too long, that's not going to go well for our season."
Despite an injury toll that's forced coach Jacob Jackomas deep into his development player stocks, the Hawks have led Perth and Adelaide late into third quarters only to be out-gunned down the stretch.
The lack of a second offensive focal point has undoubtedly had it's biggest impact on Harvey, who's come in for heavy defensive attention showing up in his 6-26 from the field in his last two outings.
The 29-year-old has a pronounced history of emphatic bounce-back performances, but he said his team will need to find one across the board in a crunch clash with the Breakers.
"I see a variety of defences every game but we've got so many weapons around it doesn't matter who's guarding me," Harvey said.
"We've got guys who can put the ball in the basket, including myself, but at the end of the day it comes down to finding ways to win. Right now we haven't done that.
"Obviously our record is 1-3 but we are playing good basketball, we just have those stretches that hurt us. [The opposition] go on a 10-0 run and we do stuff that's out of character.
"It comes down to us as players, we need to be more disciplined on the court, particularly late in games.
"I know this team, I've been around this team for two years, we don't have guys that will sulk and get down on themselves. We'll find a way to change this season around, but it's still a tough stretch right now."
While Jackomas concedes his side has suffered from some late-game wobbles, he's not yet prepared to call it a pattern.
"I don't think it's a common trend right now with us," Jackomas said.
"It's been two [losses] away from home. We could put it down to a lot of things, some in our control, some out of our control.
"Obviously having some fresh legs would help, maybe [there's] an offensive structure we could add, maybe some luck, maybe a call go our way, maybe we just do better at home.
"The three teams we've played, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide, are all [supposedly] winning it. I'm not saying anyone coming up is any easier, but we're playing those guys pretty hard.
"In our [current] spot we don't have a great scope for mistakes. Every time we make a mistake it seems to count a little more than the other team but that's what happens when we're playing good teams like this.
"We've played three of the top teams in the league and we've played them tough. I thought Sydney, [Adelaide] and even Perth, we could've won all of them and we could've been the talk of the town."
Illawarra Sports Awards
The Mercury, in partnership with the Illawarra Academy Of Sport and presenting sponsor Illawarra Credit Union, is hosting the Illawarra Sports Awards, to be held on Thursday, November 10 at the Fraternity Club.
TICKETS: Purchase individual tickets or tables at https://events.humanitix.com/illawarra-sports-awards
NOMINATE: Get your nominations in for the Team Of The Year, Coach Of The Year and Local Hero Volunteer Of The Year
VOTE: Who will win the Mercury People's Choice Award? Read about their achievements HERE and vote.
Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
