East Wagga-Kooringal coach Matt Hard is looking forward to Saturday's challenge at Coleambally despite a host of injury concerns for the Hawks and a confident opposition chasing three straight wins at home.
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Back in round one, EWK romped to a 134-point win against the Blues at Gumly.
But going into the return fixture, Coleambally are coming off convincing wins against Charles Sturt University last week (by 10 goals), and Marrar (28 points) a week earlier.
In contrast, the Hawks have dropped two of their last three (to Marrar and Temora) and are set to have their depth tested.
"We will have a few out, we've got a few soft tissue injuries," EWK coach Matt Hard said.
"But I'll back my boys in. We'll go in with 21 fit players and we know we'll be up for a challenge.
"Some guys will get an opportunity and I'm sure they will grab it so I'm looking forward to it, to be honest."
Captain Ben Absolum was about ready to return from a hamstring but is unavailable for the next two weeks due to work, while backman Trent Garner (hamstring/back) - one of nine Hawks to have played every game in the first half of the year - is a big loss having been outstanding against the Blues last time.
"I don't think Trent is as bad as what we first thought. He'll definitely miss this week but he's probably touch and go next week," Hard said.
The Hawks have named Ash Hard, Daniel Hitchens, Tom Pocock and Myles Carroll to come back in after missing the loss at Temora but Sam and James Hodges are both out, adding to an injured list that already included Ethan Andrews, Matt Beasley and Jeremy Piercy from earlier this month.
Beasley and Piercy are facing around 8-10 weeks out but the Hawks expect most of their absentees to be back within a month.
The Blues welcome back Jack Painting but remain without stars Dean Pound and Raven Marika. However their season is coming together just at the time EWK are facing obstacles.
"Two losses in quick succession is not good but Marrar were too good for us and so were Temora. We were down a few troops (last week) we were under siege so we've got to dust ourselves and get back on the bike, it's pretty simple," Hard said.
After five straight wins to start the season, the Hawks lost top spot with last week's 49-point loss to the Roos.
Hard said there were positives in the effort of first gamers Kyle Hockley, Harris Mitter and Callum Polsen, who stood up in the face of an injury-induced challenge.
Against the Blues, resilience will be the order of the day.
"Our senior blokes have got to step up and respond," Hard said.
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