After putting it down to an "off day", Orange Hawks captain-coach Willie Heta said he's hoping last weekend's loss to Group 10 premier league heavyweights Mudgee will act as a trigger for his side to rediscover the ruthless streak they showed in the opening rounds.
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The 32-8 defeat at the hands of the Jack Littlejohn-coached Dragons was Hawks' first of the year and the two blues produced an uncharacteristically error-ridden performance, something Heta wants his troops to rectify in Sunday's trip to Oberon.
"We just didn't seem like the same side that had turned up in the first few rounds, maybe the week off with the bye took its toll a little bit, but we just couldn't hold onto the ball and couldn't build any pressure," Heta said.
"But Mudgee are a good side, they've recruited well and their captain-coach is a great player.
"They're still beatable though and even though I think we were sort of still getting over what happened on Tuesday night at training we had a good session (on Thursday), so hopefully the boys are ready to find some form against Oberon.
"It's better to get that off day out of the way now and hopefully we don't see another one but Sunday will be really tough too, Mudgee and Oberon are probably the two toughest trips in the competition."
While Hawks won't be lacking motivation neither will the Tigers, the Josh Starling-coached side are coming off their first win of 2019 having taken care of Lithgow Workies comfortably last weekend.
"Oberon are a good side too and they'll be full of confidence as well, I think it might be pretty cold over there on Sunday too," Heta said.
Heta's named an almost-unchanged side for Sunday's clash. Duncan Young moves back to fullback in Corey Brown's absence with Jared Brodrick starting in the centres as a result. Kick-off on Sunday at Oberon Sportsground is scheduled for 2.15pm.
