'I would love to be part of a second one': Froling dreaming of a Hawks title

The Hawks will sew up fourth spot should they beat Perth Wildcats in Wollongong on Thursday night and then lower the colours of ladder leaders United in Melbourne on Sunday in their last game of the regular season.

Loathe to look too far ahead, Froling told the Mercury the immediate goal was to win the next two games and solidify Illawarra's spot in the playoffs.

The Hawks captain, in his fifth season at the club, has enjoyed his share of good times, especially when Brian Goorjian was coaching Illawarra.

But the hurt of last season's dismal 3-25 win/loss record under Jacob Jackomas is still fresh for the 23-year-old.

That's why Froling and his "ambitious" team-mates are now willing to do whatever it takes to help interim-coach Justin Tatum take the Hawks to the promise land.

"Me and [Dan] Grida always talk about how cool it would be to win a championship in Wollongong," Froling said.

"For such an important club in the NBL, the only one that's been around for the whole time and they've only got the one championship.........I would love to be a part of the second one.

"I just think it would be such a cool experience for the town.

"We really need to reward these fans and reward ourselves for the effort we've put in.

"I love Wollongong and it's been a great place for me. To see the WEC full again is great.

"The fans come up to you in the street and they're really proud with how we've been playing and what we've been doing.

"It's such a special environment that I don't think a lot of teams in this league have, because they're in such big areas, there's a lot of people, they don't care as much.

"It's very intimate here and that for us is so massive because we're out here, we're touching the community, those people get to see us every day and it's really enjoyable for us.

"They reward us by coming to the games and giving us so much energy and packing that stadium out.

"In my opinion, I don't think there's a tougher place to play as an away team than at the WEC because the fans are right there, they're loud, they're on top of you and they're so passionate.

"For us it's so massive, it's so much fun to play in front of.

"I'm confident we're going to give [the title] a real red hot crack."

The path to championship glory starts on Thursday night at WIN Entertainment Centre when the Hawks look to beat the visiting Wildcats for a third time in as many games this season.

Inflicting three straight wins on a team is easier said than done, as the Hawks found out when they lost a nail-biter away to New Zealand Breakers last Friday night.

Froling though was confident the Hawks could again shut down Perth sharpshooter and MVP favourite Bryce Cotton to record a hat-trick of wins against the second-placed Wildcats.

"It's just about replicating what we did in those two wins," he said.

"I think our game plan has been really good against Perth..........it's just about coming out with the effort and intensity that we had in those other two games, which were must wins for us.

"This weekend's no different, the games are must wins.

"I'm pretty sure we lock up fourth spot if we win both so we're gonna come out with the same energy and intensity to get that one done.

"We want to end as high as possible to give ourselves some breathing room and some leeway.

"We've got a good team and I don't see why we can't win it all. We believe in ourselves to go all the way."