RUGBY LEAGUE: Cudgen Hornets coach Mark O'Grady has declared this weekend's game against Ballina as a must win for his club.

On the back of an impressive draw against Byron Bay, the Hornets sit eighth on the ladder with just three competition points.

O'Grady's side will have the home field advantage as they try to climb the ladder following their sluggish start.

Despite coming up against one of the competition's heavyweights, O'Grady said his side needed to start getting wins on the board, otherwise finals will be a difficult proposition.

"This weekend is must win. It has to start this week otherwise we are going to fall too far behind and be playing a lot of catch up,” O'Grady said.

"I am not too worried about that because we will be getting a lot of troops back over the next few weeks.

"Hopefully we have had all of our injuries out of the way.”

The Cudgen coach said his side would have to produce a similar performance to last week if they are to get their season back on track with a win over the Seagulls.

"They have a good junior base there, which has been good for the last few years, and with Jamie Lyon's experience they will be full of beans,” he said.

Ballina are coming off a shock loss to the Mustangs in Round 4.

Kick-off for the Round 5 clash will be Sunday at 2.45pm, at the Cudgen Leagues Club.