INJURY-HIT Dennington is daring to dream of short-form success despite several leaders still licking wounds on the sidelines.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Dennington shocked Warrnambool's cricket fraternity with two Twenty20 victories prior to Christmas without captain Zeb McCarthy and coach Dustin Drew.
It had previously banked just one win in the first three months of the season.
Now, the Dogs are the association's second-ranked Twenty20 outfit and are facing a semi-final showdown on Sunday if they can secure victories on Saturday.
We go in with the approach of trying to score off every ball. There are 120 balls, and we aim for at least 120 runs.
- Dustin Drew
Drew, who is likely to miss the rest of the season with a knee complaint, said confidence was flowing despite the injury crisis.
"Coming into the back-end of the year, if I was a top-four side, I wouldn't want to play us," he said.
"We were completely outplayed by Brierly in our final two-day game before Christmas and I said 'let's just go into these Twenty20 games and play with some freedom'.
"Sometimes you can be worried about getting out but I told the guys to take the game on, get dirty and play with a bit of freedom with the bat.
"We go in with the approach of trying to score off every ball. There are 120 balls, and we aim for at least 120 runs."
With clashes against Port Fairy and reigning premier Russells Creek looming on Saturday, Drew said his men weren't feeling any pressure to replicate their pre-Christmas form.
He was expecting hard-fought battles against both opponents.
"Port Fairy are down the bottom but have two of the best players in the league in Aaron Williams and (Jason) Perera. They can take the game away," Drew said.
"Creek have been the benchmark of the competition but won't have (captain) Cam Williams as he's with Vic Country.
READ MORE:
"I think they're beatable. They've probably limped over the line a couple of times but they have some very, very good players."
Drew said he would continue gifting young players opportunities after Curran O'Donnell debuted in the first Twenty20 of the campaign.
"It's the perfect format for that," he said.
Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.