Hawks president Norm Miller is backing his side to win five of their last eight matches this season to qualify for another finals series, making no secret some handy additions will transfom the side in time for September.
Manunda sit fourths after a bye last week, but are coming off a shock loss to fifth-placed Centrals.
They play leaders North Cairns and South Cairns twice and every other club once before regular season's end.
To win five, they will have to beat every side below them and knock off at least one of Tigers, Saints or Crocs above them. Despite winning just four from 10 to start the year, Miller is confident the 2011 premiers can come home with a wet sail.
"I think we can put ourselves in finals," he said confidently. "We'll have some additions that will boost..... I think we'll ambush a few teams towards the end of the season."
Miller, the club founder, has overseen the fly-in, fly-out of several players this season and admits it is not the healthiest way to run a club.
And he agreed the loss to Centrals was a hiccup along the way. But he said the current process was a better option than continually exposing and relying on juniors every weekend.
"You want to make sure you're beating the teams below you, so it definitely backfired against Centrals.
But we need that experience there, even if it's not the ideal situation," he said.
"I think we can have a good run home though, upset a few teams and liven up the competition."
Today's 8pm clash at Cazalys Stadium will test them, though.
The Tigers are the early favourites for the flag, winning all but one of their 10 matches this season and scraping home against Souths last week despite being understrength.
Last Modified on 31/07/2013 15:53