The Pumas have had an interrupted preparation with Matt Burmeister stepping down as coach with captain Aaron Pianta taking the reins for the rest of the season.

The Hawks have had a mixed start to the season and will be hoping to get back on the winners list after losing to Penshurst in round eight.

They sit in fourth position but could drop out of the top five if results go against them.

Hawks coach Simon Brearley said the team is focused on themselves and not worrying about the change of coach at the Pumas going into the game.

“I don’t read too much into those things,” he said. 

“We just want to focus on what we need to do but we are wary of them coming off a big loss last week.

“They will come out fired up and will no doubt be keen to redeem themselves after having their colours lowered.”

The Hawks are slowly building into the season with the next few games important if they are to play finals.

“We identified the block between interleague and the bye is pretty important for us,” Brearley said.

“So we know we cannot take any game lightly and this week is one we need to focus on particularly.

“We butchered the footy last week and turned it over in dangerous positions, so we have been been focusing on getting our skills back up and getting our hands on the ball more in the contest at training.”

Tatyoon is set to make some changes to the round eight team with some key players returning to the squad for the game against the Pumas.

“We had seven of our best 21 out last week, so four of those will potentially come in which will definitely strengthen us on the field,” he said.

“We are pretty happy with how we are defending, it is a strength of ours and we know if we can keep sides to a low score, we are a big chance of winning.”

The first bounce is scheduled for 2.15pm