Captain, and blindside flanker, Reed Prinsep said after the extra-time loss to Moana Pasifika, they had an intensive review and applied the lessons from that in their subsequent games.
"It's something that's been slowly developing and, hopefully, we can do the job on Tuesday and see that come to fruition," he said.
They felt they lacked the necessary intensity last time and were bullied around the physicality.
"That's something we've taken big strides in since then, and we're looking to take another step as well," he said.
Prinsep said he thought the Hurricanes stepped up from where they had been with the intensity and physicality they showed against the Crusaders on Saturday.
"Going against the top team you have got to be at your best, and we gave ourselves a shot. It's a battle of margins, these games, these local derbies, and we're proud of the effort. Now it's about converting those efforts into wins," he said.
It required an 'every time' mentality applied across 80 minutes. A 60-70 minutes effort was not enough, he said.
Coach Jason Holland backed Prinsep's thoughts.
The extra-time loss to Moana Pasifika had hurt the side, not only in not winning the physical contest but not playing the game as smartly as they would have liked.
"The boys have learned a lot from that, and we have talked again about how we want to play. It's a pretty vital game for us, so we're looking forward to it," he said.
Holland said having crowds back had returned some normality to rugby.
"It's a different world. Footy's a different game when you've got people there. Let's hope that continues. Our crowd were awesome [on Saturday]," he said.
The crowd's response lifted the players in what he felt was a good game of rugby.
"That's the beauty of being a professional footy player, you've got to be able to perform in and out no matter what is happening. We've learnt that in Covid, so it makes for a better occasion," he said.
Halfback TJ Perenara had a back spasm before the Crusaders' game and withdrew knowing the other halves could give 100 per cent in the effort. It had cleared up quickly, and he will start against Moana Pasifika.
Jamie Booth did a good job stepping up, and Cam Roigard had performed well when coming on as a substitute in the second half.
Hooker Asafo Aumua's shoulder injury was not quite ready for him to return, he said.
The Hurricanes take on Moana Pasifika at 7.05pm on Tuesday 12 April at Sky Stadium in Wellington. Watch LIVE on Sky Sport NZ.