On Saturday at Victoria Park, the league’s last two premiers will fight to get their seasons back on track.

It’s far too early to suggest either side is on the canvas, but back-to-back losses for both make it a crunch game. 

“Absolutely,” Hawks coach Gavin McMahon says.

“Both of us have started a little bit slower this year.

“At the end of the weekend being 1-and-3 or 2-and-2 is a big difference to your season so, yeah, huge one.”

The rivals are in similar boats, having lost key forwards and some class in the middle. But both retain proven matchwinners around whom they’ve got to build new combinations.

McMahon said they can’t be concerned about the Pies.

“There’s so much that we’ve got to fix, personally, in our own game. It just happens to be The Rock that we’ve got to do it against this weekend,” he said. 

On paper, it’s a simple fix.

“It’s our turnovers, it’s just our silly, undisciplined things that we’ve done in the first couple of weeks as well.

"And the other part is just backing ourselves in. Just having a go and keep pulling the trigger, individually and as a footy club. Go harder. Don’t back off and go slower when things aren’t going your way, just go harder.”

Leading into this season, the Hawks had only lost five games since round five, 2014. So dropping consecutive games (against North Wagga and CSU) is a jolt.

On the surface, it’s taking the Hawks back three years, to McMahon’s first season in charge.

“It does, but it doesn’t,” he says. “We’re starting a new cycle but with a fair bit of familiarity about what we’re doing as well… we don’t have to build belief. The belief’s already there – the boys know we’re capable and we’re able.

“We’ve built that winning culture now for three years, so I feel like we’re a bit closer than we were in 2014 to turning it around.”

One thing the slow start isn’t a sign of is complacency. If the Hawks were climbing Mt Everest, last year’s premiership only took them to base camp.

“When we came in here, we just wanted to develop a winning culture because I think everything gets drawn to a winning culture and look, premierships are only a part measurement of that,” McMahon says.

“Up until the grand final last year, we were the only team in the Farrer League that hadn’t won a flag in 30 years… so we’ve got a long way to go. One premiership is only a small step.”

Breaking a 34-year drought for the club meant relief was the overwhelming emotion. And there’s more than enough motivation to go again. 

“The next phase of the footy club, and for the playing group we’ve got is – if we can get ourselves in a position to have another go at one – it’d be for them as much as the last one was shedding the history of the footy club and giving us a fresh start to get going again,” he says.

It now starts at The Rock, where McMahon is hoping he can stop looking for the positives in losing in what’s been a shakier start than expected.

“As a coach (losing) gives you an opportunity to look at the same group of players and see them back in that situation, how they respond, what they do and how they can try and bring their mates back into the game and improve us as a group.

“It’s another great learning opportunity but we don’t want to keep learning for too long!”

And after the loss to CSU, he expects they won’t be the last team taking lessons from the students this year. 

“They’re good – they’ve improved a lot and they’ll win a lot more games this year.

“They’re a lot better balanced across the board. Obviously they had plenty to play for and a fair motivation but they’re a lot better balanced, they’re structured well down the middle, they’ve got a good balance of inside and outside runners at the moment. If they can keep them all together and keep training well… they’ll be more than a handful for most sides.”