Manunda ruckman Luke Powell will not be missing any more games this year - no matter what injury he may have. It would be more painful on the sidelines, he reckons. That was certainly the case last weekend when he sat on the hill at Holloways Beach in a Hawks' polo shirt and watched his side get belted by the bottom-placed Lions. Powell is a fairly happy guy. But even he could not keep smiling through that last quarter. "I should've been out there - it was pretty tough viewing." he said. "We were all pretty cut up, but there was no blame thrown. We just all know we need to turn it around this weekend." Powell's chest infection has cleared and he will be rucking at the first bounce against North Cairns at Watsons Oval tomorrow. The Hawks must beat the Tigers and by a fair margin to leapfrog their rivals into second spot. "It's an important game and we all know if we'd won last weekend, it would have been better for us," he said. "But we can still get that mental edge over Norths with a win this weekend." Even if the standings remain the same, the two sides are likely to meet in the preliminary final on September 15. Manunda smashed the Tigers in their last meeting and Powell believes they can get under their skin again. "I think you can, but you have to play well because they are quality players,' Powell said. Adding to that tension will be the Lukas Ehlich factor. He won a premiership with the Hawks last season, but moved back to his junior club this season. It will be Ehlich's third appearance this year since returning from injury. "He left on his own accord, but you can't say he didn't help us becasue he was getting really involved at the start of the season," Powell said. "We would obviously love to get a win over him." A loss would consign Hawks to third sport and a sudden-death first semi-final against South Cairns. But a big win would leave the door open to grab the double chance. "On paper, you look at the teams and think we can beat anyone. But whether we turn up and play is another story," Powell said.
Last Modified on 25/09/2012 11:11