Watching his team play from the sidelines has become a frustrating pastime for Wollongong Hawks swingman Glen Saville.

In recent weeks, the two-time Olympian has been a helpless bystander because of a knee injury, missing five matches - all losses - as his team dropped from second to fifth on the ladder.

"It's frustrating to be injured because over the course of my career I haven't really had too many dramas," he said.

"It's the longest break I've ever had during a season in all the years I've played."

Saville's frustration reached boiling point when he found himself sitting at home, watching his team on television for the first time in his career.

The fiery competitor was completely out of his element, reduced to hurling verbal abuse and the TV remote control in vain as he endured painful losses to the Gold Coast Blaze and Perth Wildcats from his couch.

"I was very nervous actually, particularly when it went to overtime in the Gold Coast game," he added.

"I was more nervous having to sit at home all there by myself and having no influence at all."

"Obviously there were some things that happened in that game that made steam come out of my ears and wished I was there to make a comment on them."

"It's bottled up because I had my wife sitting next to me during the Perth game, so I can't really talk to her about how our guys aren't getting the split-line or we're not running our dribble drags properly."

After undergoing minor surgery four weeks ago, Saville was relieved to find out the condition of his knee was better than expected and unrelated to an injury he suffered in 2006.

"It basically got to the point where my knee was swelling up so much I couldn't play the way I wanted to play or had been playing," Saville said.

"I was a little bit worried, because I wasn't sure if it was the cartilage damage I had last time, when actually it wasn't and it turned out quite good."

"They just cleaned up some meniscus, so it's not that bad."

Saville began shooting and light non-contact drills last week, aiming to play in the crucial road double against the New Zealand Breakers and Melbourne Tigers.

A string of injuries has contributed to Wollongong's crippling seven-game slide, while also preventing them from being at full strength in any game this season.

With their season in the balance, the healing can finally begin for the Hawks when their on-court leader makes a much-needed return.

"We're playing with the right attitude even though we're losing games," he said.

"I thought I was having a pretty reasonable season so I kind of want to get back to that as quick as I can, which realistically can be hard to do."