RUGBY LEAGUE: Cudgen are faced with a mammoth task this weekend attempting to derail Ballina.

The Hornets go into their round 10 clash firmly as the underdogs but the club needs to start winning games to be in semi-finals contention.

Halfback Harry Fitzhugh has the unenviable task of trying to guide his team through the stern defence of the Seagulls.

The Cudgen number seven said there was still plenty of belief in the side, despite the mounting injury toll they have faced throughout the season.

"There is a lot of belief there but we also know we have a lot of work to do, which is a good thing,” he said.

"The attitude has to be there if we are going to give this competition a shake.

"Hopefully we are able to get the injuries out of the way in the back half of the year and get some consistency and play good footy.”

Cudgen are in sixth position on the ladder but are crucially three points adrift from fifth placed Kyogle.

The Turkeys will play Evans Head this week, who have not won a game this year, which makes victory this weekend very important.

To do that, the Hornets halfback said his team needed to dominate the middle of the field in attack and defence if they are a chance to pull off an upset win.

"Having good control of the ball and a good completion rate is key to bringing down good sides.”

"If we can control the ball we can control the game but our forwards in the middle need to control the area and make good metres.”

A loss this weekend will make the mountain the Hornets have to climb to get to the semi finals even steeper.

The Cudgen side could fall as low as eighth depending on other results this weekend, falling further into the congestion in the middle of the premiership table.

Cudgen are coming off a bye, meaning they have had two weeks to prepare for the important clash.

The Hornets have won two of their last three games but are coming off a last-start loss.

Their opponents are coming off a comfortable win last weekend over Northern United.

This Sunday's round 10 clash will be played at Kingsford Smith Park, Ballina.

Kick-off will be at 2.45pm, with the LLT clash beginning at 10.45am.