The only problem for the Saints is it then brings out the best in the Hawks.

For the second time this season, North Wagga asked all the questions of EWK, only to see them answered with a stirring fourth-quarter fightback.

Held scoreless in the third term, the Hawks were down by three goals at the last break but then piled on nine goals to one at Gumly, including four to Nick Hull after the ruckman swapped with centre-half-forward Billy Mearns. 

The 16.9 (105) to 11.11 (77) result was a heavy blow to North Wagga’s finals hopes while confirming there’s both fight and flight in the 2016 edition of the Hawks.

“They’re a good group, they’ve been really tight,” EWK coach Gavin McMahon said.

“Obviously we’ve had a few knocks over a couple of years and it can either build your resilience or it’ll fracture it and their resilience has been building.

“I certainly wasn’t happy we were in that position in the first place but once that’s done all you can do is dig your way out.”

Instead of a three-quarter-time spray, McMahon encouraged his players to climb off the canvas.

“We’ve wanted to be challenged this year,” he said. 

“It’s not an excuse to play poorly early but the competition is a lot better than it was last year – they were definitely the better side for three quarters today.”

From the first bounce, North Wagga dominated out of the middle, with a pressure and intensity that saw them control large portions of the game.

They’d put three goals on the home side inside six minutes and led by 24 points after 20 minutes.

Three quick goals limited the damage for EWK narrowing the gap to five.

The second term was telling. EWK didn’t get the ball into their attacking half, let alone their forward 50, for the first 10 minutes but held the Saints to just one goal.

After hanging tough, the Hawks made the most of their first opportunity with a goal to Chris Gordon and added two more to lead by seven points at halftime.

The third term was all North Wagga with two goals each to Alex Grozinger (who finished with five) and Corey Watt but they needed more, knowing what was to come. 

Seven minutes into the last quarter, EWK had turned a three-goal deficit into a three-point lead.

Then, in finals-like intensity, the game hung in the balance until time-on when the Hawks kicked four more to power home on the back of big-game players.

“It was your Chris Gordon, Ben Absolum, Nick Hull – the leaders in the group who said, ‘We’ve got to do something about this.’ And they were able to deliver, which was great,” McMahon said.

The big names took control when it mattered, but the effort of Brocke Argus and Bryce McPherson kept the Hawks in it when momentum was against them, while full-back Tim Smith’s efforts went a long way towards limiting the Saints’ opportunities.