ST PAT’S are on a roll and the next item on the agenda in their Group 10 premier league title defence is to steamroll the Orange Hawks at Wade Park this afternoon.

While the Saints have had their struggles this season – mainly due to a large injury toll – over the past month they have started to play the brand of football which led them to glory in 2014.

Seven days ago the Saints posted one of the most important wins of their season to date when they saw off the Mudgee Dragons 24-4. 

It was their fifth win in a row.

While the Saints were celebrating that win against an in form rival, Hawks had a weekend they would rather forget.

Down 40-0 at half-time against Lithgow Workies, Hawks were then forced to abandoned the match due to a player shortage.

Pat’s coach Kurt Hancock only knows that the Hawks will be fronting up for the match today, but not how strong the Orange squad will be.

For that reason he is more interested in focusing on what his own troops can bring to Wade Park.

“It will depend on the side that they’ll field and that’s a bit of an unknown. There’s still guys there like Cody Robbins and Jedd Kennedy who can hurt you from anywhere on the field,” he said.

“We spoke last night at training about ... the fact that we just have to focus on ourselves and going over there to put in a professional performance.

“It’s probably a blessing in disguise that they beat us last time. It means we go in with less complacency in our minds. This is a good mental test for us.”

That defeat at the hands of Hawks – a 30-20 result – came at the Sportsground earlier this year.

However, a lot has changed at both clubs in that time.

The Hawks’ finals chances were dashed a fortnight ago while Pat’s still have third place in their sights.

Pat’s snowed-out match against Workies was originally set to be rescheduled, but has since been called off.

That gives the teams a split of the points and puts Pat’s a single point behind the Blayney Bears in fourth. They are two off the Dragons who currently occupy third.

It is all coming together at the right end of the season for Pat’s.

“We have guys like Cam Neville, Tim Holman and Jake Bright out for the season with injuries, but that’s seen younger players coming through who can all play footy too. They’ve now been able to find a style of footy that suits them and they’ve been able to run with it,” Hancock said.

The departure of Luke Newsome to England will see Chris De Young starting in front rower today. 

Tim Collins is the other change as he starts on the right wing, replacing Jared Tyack who is recovering from an ankle injury.

“They’ve been going great in second grade and they’ve both had a few matches already in first grade this year,” Hancock said of the former Bathurst Bulldogs pair.

“They’ve improved massively and they’ve got plenty of experience there from top grade rugby with the Bulldogs.”

Today’s match at Wade Park kicks off at 2pm.

ST PAT’S: 1 Nathan Lawrence, 2 Adam Morton, 3 Curtis Boardman, 4 Matt Tilley, 5 Tim Collins, 6 Garry Reilly, 7 Joey Coughlan, 8 Travis Wininara, 9 Benjamin John (c), 10 Chris De Young, 11 Brady Cheshire, 12 Corey Averio, 13 Joe Batchelor, 14 Hudson White, 15 Mick Armstrong, 16 Nick Millar, 17 Jack Mackey.