Both sides enter the Warrnambool and District league round three fixture undefeated.

Dwyer said Merrivale was sluggish early in its first two games before powerful second-half displays.

The Tigers kicked five goals in the first half against Old Collegians before booting 10 majors in the second to run out comfortable winners in round one.

They booted seven in the first half against East Warrnambool last week before slamming on 16 more after half-time. Dwyer hopes the return of forward duo Joe Woonton (calf) and Hamish Gurry (knee) will help the Tigers eradicate that problem.

“We’d like to see improvement at the start of our games,” he said.

“Hopefully our first half will be better than it has been.

“I think we need to come with more effort and intensity.

“Our second halves have been a lot better than our firsts.”

Dwyer said Dennington had recruited well and was well poised for another finals tilt.

The premiership mentor said he believed both sides would try and use their pace to their advantage.

“From all reports they have picked up some speed with the inclusion of (Leigh) Evans and a good ruckman in (Justin) Wallace,” he said.

“Clinton Hall is back for them and runs all day.

“We do have the speed on the outside with Al Porter and Sam Gleeson.

“We think we have a good mix of players who win the footy in tight and get it out and hurt them in there.”

Dwyer expects match-ups all over the ground to be pivotal. But he is looking forward to Jack Gleeson playing on Dogs forward Alex Pye.

“He (Pye) is a good little player and I think that will be a pretty good match-up,” Dwyer said.

“He has been their major goalkicker for the year. He’s kicked 10, so that will be a challenge for Jack.”

The match will be Merrivale defender Jack Grace’s 100th senior appearance in yellow and black.

Dwyer said Grace was a team-first player who always stuck to his task. 

“He’s really reliable. (the difference between) his best and worst is so minimal.

“He does the basics really well. 

“You know what you’re going to get with him. He doesn’t over-complicate things.”

Dennington coach Darcy Lewis is excited about the challenge of playing the Tigers.

“Our intensity and pressure has always been good and it has been good the first two weeks,” he said.

“There are a couple of things we needed to work on after round one and we certainly improved on them last week.

“South Rovers tried to stop us scoring and Merrivale has a strong defence too and we have to try and break the lines and get it to our key forwards.”