South Warrnambool gets second win in three weeks to hold onto fifth

After a shock defeat to Cobden last week - the sixth loss in seven matches - Battistello's Roosters bounced back to score a 17.16 (118) to 4.11 (35) win over Terang Mortlake.

The victory keeps the Roosters in the top five for another week but the spot is far from sealed as they sit equal on 32 points with Hamilton Kangaroos.

The first-year Roosters mentor said his side's work earlier in the year had helped it regain its early season form, which saw it register six wins from the opening seven games.

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"Going back to the week before I said we didn't deserve to play finals," he said.

"But because of the body of work we had done early in year we are hoping Saturday is vindication of us turning things around.

"If we continue to win games we deserve to be there (playing finals). We don't want to fall in by default, we want to go in there playing good enough footy to have an impact."

Battistello said his side showed on Saturday there wasn't much room for improvement apart from maintaining an even level of output across four quarters.

The Roosters face a tough final three weeks of the season with a trip to Camperdown before games against Warrnambool (home) and North Warrnambool Eagles (Bushfield).

In a positive for Roosters, Battistello expected there to be limited changes to the side with the side getting through unscathed.

Running defender Tanna Blackney-Noter is possibly the only change but it is subject to a fitness test later this week.

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