That's the case for Maitland Blacks' coach Matt Thomas ahead of Saturday's tough road fixture against a rejuvenated Singleton lineup.

The Blacks are coming off last week's blockbuster grand final replay clash against Hamilton Hawks - a game the Blacks fell agonisingly short in despite dominating play for large swathes of time.

So the big question is: are they ready to go again?

"That's it in a nutshell," Thomas said.

"You can't go into a game like the one against Hamilton last week - against the premiers for five consecutive years - and pretend it's just another game.

"It's not. We were up for the match and despite having a lot of injuries, we thought we could win.

"To lose it hurts us as a group. The issue now is to put that behind us and make sure that's in the past and that we're ready for Singleton."

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That task becomes even more difficult considering the Blacks' previous match against Nelson Bay - last season's finalists - was also a no-holds-barred beauty.

The Blacks managed to get the points in that one, but the sheer physicality of it was undeniable.

That's two energy sapping efforts in a row.

Throw in the fact that the Blacks are still significantly understrength with the Chris Logan, James Hawkins, Mick Howell and Ryan McCormack all out - and doubts about whether Pat Batey will be fit in time also, make the Singleton challenge that bit trickier.

It has the makings of an ambush waiting to happen.

"It's the local derby and when they play us it coincides with their their old boys day, so the atmosphere up there is always terrific," Thomas said.

"The two clubs get on well, and they have recruited really well this year.

"They have a strong representation of New Zealand players in their ranks and it has had an immediate impact with some good results.

"We have a bye after this weekend, so I'll be calling for one last big effort before the break.

"First thing is we have to match their physicality. There's no way around that."

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