The Sharks travel to Forster on Sunday to clash with the fourth-placed Hawks in a match that will go a long way towards shaping the final positions on the ladder.

A win for Port Macquarie will see them move into fourth position, while a loss could see them slip to sixth.

Coach Ben Kirkland is aware of the importance of the fixture for his side who were "ordinary" when the two teams last met on May 18.

"If we play like that we'll get beat; we were ordinary that day," he said.

"They put a bit of pressure on us early and tried to bully us out of the game."

Port Macquarie will have to do it without the presence of second-rower Scott Grant who will miss the match due to his sister's wedding.

But Kirkland remained confident his team could register their third win from the last four starts.

"I'm confident if we can stay with them we'll get better the longer the game goes," he said.

"But they've hit a bit of a purple patch of form over the last two weeks and have got a big pack of forwards and some good outside backs.

"I'd like to blow them away early, but that's probably not going to happen."

Hawks halfback Adrian Davis will hold one of the keys to victory fresh from starring in their 32-24 win over Old Bar last week.

"I went and watched them and without their halfback they don't win," Kirkland said.

"They were down by 10 with 10 to go and he kicked a couple of 40/20s to get them home."

The Sharks have fond memories of the last time they travelled to Harry Elliot Oval when they cruised to a 52-10 victory on May 20 last year.

They have won their last four fixtures at the venue.

"It's a really good place to play footy; I enjoy it because they always get a good crowd down there," Kirkland said.

"We've got to win to take the pressure off us."

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