THE emergence of East Warrnambool is fast becoming one of the feel-good stories of the 2018 Warrnambool and district league season.
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The Bombers grabbed their third win on Saturday when they defeated Dennington 6.12. (48) to 6.10. (46).
It was the first time since 2014 East Warrnambool has won more than two games in a season.
Given it is only round nine and the Bombers have now won two games in a row, the likelihood of matching or bettering the four wins from 2014 continues to rise.
East Warrnambool coach Danny Chatfield said a focus on the bigger picture is helping the growth of his team.
“There’s little things happening around the club that as a coach you notice,” Chatfield said.
“Blokes are turning up to training more consistently and getting over and helping out the juniors.
“We are also starting to not underestimate what we can do.
“Our captain Dylan Cross is really big on driving that, he is getting the message across that we need to get out of our heads that we are a pushover. If we came ready to go and get out of blocks quick then we can be in the game no matter who we come up against.
“We have to do that week in week out.”
Cross put words into action at Dennington Recreation Reserve on Saturday, being part of an impressive East Warrnambool midfield.
Chatfield said the efforts through the middle were crucial to his team’s win.
“Big Nick Alexandrou gave us first use out of the ruck and Sam Grinter was in and under all day which was important in wet conditions,” Chatfield said.
This bite through the middle meant the Bombers were able to generate an important forward push in the last quarter that was to be a match-winning one.
Less than a goal separated the teams at each break with the Dogs leading by three points going into the last quarter.
Chatfield decided to move Hayden Harradine to a one-on-one situation deep forward to try and pinch a goal.
“Hayden’s pretty clever so we thought why not put him in the goal square and see what he could do,” Chatfield said.
“It turned out he was able to get on the end of one and slot it through and that was the only goal for the quarter.
“We defended well for the rest of the quarter, both teams were pretty desperate and we were able to hold on.”
