Nathan Murphy’s men burst out of the doldrums of a first-day loss to send an ominous warning to their Melbourne Country Week rivals, thumping Traralgon by 159 runs on Tuesday.

Murphy’s 14-man squad spent Monday night mulling over their heavy defeat to Sale-Maffra – and the 30-year-old revealed the heart-to-heart was vital in inspiring his side.

“In our team meeting, we were really honest and open,” the second-year skipper said.

“It was the response I knew we’d give because we had to bring our best. Now, by my calculations, if we win on Wednesday we’ll be through to another semi-final.”

He backed spinner Ben Evans (1-17) and batsman Chris Bant (52 runs) to cement their places in the side and praised the spread of contributors in the triumph over Traralgon.

Woodford skipper Nick Butters (71) and Bant were the most prolific run-scorers, while Brierly-Christ Church’s Mark Murphy blasted a quickfire 47 from just 37 balls.

“You need (a spread) down here – you can’t just rely on one bloke,” Nathan Murphy said.

“We have our indicators of where we’d like to be at each stage of the innings, and we matched that right through. That’s something we have to continue.

“We spoke about the need to bowl fuller and straighter as we can really set a field to that. We were a bit short and wide against Sale.”

Despite pressure building ahead of Warrnambool’s must-win clash with Mornington, Murphy was confident his formula for success would deliver victory.

“We need to back our skills and have wickets in hand late on,” he said.