Davidson missed last week's six-point loss to the Spirit with a minor knee injury, while Rychart was playing with Brisbane in the Queensland Australian Basketball League semi-finals.

The Hawks missed the pair's combined 403cm in the middle, with Sydney dominating the rebound count 63-42.

"Something we've definitely stressed this week at training is that we have to do a better job with our rebounding," Wollongong coach Eric Cooks said.

"It has to be a team effort, everybody's gotta put in. We've got a few more bodies in there and more rebounders suiting up and that will really help, but our guards have to work hard to keep their guards off the boards. At the three-spot at times, we'll still be small without Sav (Glen Saville), so we all have to be aware of boxing out people."

Saville and Wollongong off-season signing Rhys Martin are the only players unavailable tonight.

The Hawks have four more games scheduled for the pre-season - away twice to Adelaide next week and on the road to Gold Coast twice the following week.

"Last year we struggled on the road and I intentionally went out to try and schedule some away games for the pre-season," Cooks said.

"The teams we're playing are good teams. Gold Coast are a physical team and play an interior game, and because we're going to be a bit small this year, it'll be good to see how we're going to guard those bigger teams. Adelaide should be in the mix for a top six spot, if not top four, so both those road trips will give us a good indication of where we're at."

The Hawks' season starts with the Breakers in New Zealand (September 18). Their first home game is September 20 (Sydney).