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AAP
AAP
Sport
George Clarke

Tough start steels Sydney for ALW marathon

Mackenzie Hawkesby believes Sydney FC are slowly warming to the task this season. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

Sydney FC midfielder Mackenzie Hawkesby believes her side will get back to their freewheeling best after a bumpy pre-season and tough run of fixtures to start the competition.

Ante Juric's side began the A-League Women season with a loss away to Adelaide but have since ground out wins against Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney.

While they made a habit of putting teams to the sword last season, a changing of the guard has meant the Sky Blues are still to hit top gear this campaign.

Striker Remy Siemsen is one game back from a spell in Sweden, Taylor Ray is out injured and they've seen New Zealand internationals Paige Satchell and Ally Green and Chilean forward Maria Rojas all depart.

Slowly, Hawekesby believes, Sydney are finding their groove, and they have the chance to put on a show against Brisbane Roar when they play at Allianz Stadium on Saturday for the first time.

"We've all been there to see the Matildas and the men's side so we are pretty keen to play on it," Hawkesby told AAP.

"We had a couple of girls who left, some girls have been away on national team duty in pre-season and we've signed some new girls.

"We're kind of gelling and we've just got to start finding our feet in the final third and put goals away."

Hawkesby, who was called into the Matildas set-up for a tour of Spain and Portugal earlier this year, said the testing schedule would stand Sydney in good stead for the end of the season.

The Sky Blues have finished top in the last two league campaigns but have subsequently gone on to lose in the grand final.

"The draw is very different to last year when we were based in Sydney for about four or five rounds," Hawkesby said.

"The fact that we've been able to win back-to-back games shows we're doing well.

"It's been a good test for us, especially under the conditions of having a player sent off (against the Wanderers) and that shows our resilience and mentality."

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