Terang Mortlake responds as it tries to lock in 2023 Hampden league finals spot

The Bloods overcame an 18-point half-time deficit to record a 14.11 (95) to 11.9 (75) win at D.C Farran Oval on Saturday, welcoming back five key players in the process.

Scott Carlin, Lachlan Wareham, Alex Moloney, Dylan Jones and Hugh Porter all featured in the win which ruled out Port Fairy making a late claim for a top-five finish.

Camperdown, which moved into sixth on the Hampden league ladder, is the only team which can usurp the Bloods with two rounds to play.

Terang Mortlake coach Ben Kenna believes his players regained form after a sluggish patch mid-season.

"The third quarter when we got going and kicked six goals to Warrnambool's none I think we got that bit of belief back that was probably lacking for six or eight weeks," he said.

"You could even sense the crowd were more up and about yesterday once we got things going.

"It will be a real springboard for the last couple of games of the season and there's a bit of a steely resolve in the group."

The experienced coach was rapt with their second-half response.

"The boys knew the importance of the game and we probably got that message through a bit more," Kenna said.

"We probably had to be first to the footy and that's what turned it around, we got in for the footy, got a bit of momentum and maintained the footy with possession a bit better."

Kenna was pleased with the Bloods' returning players and expects them to have greater impact in coming weeks.

"Some of them haven't played for a little while so were lacking a bit of match fitness but for their first outings there were some pretty positive signs there," he said.

Wareham (shoulder) was expected to miss the remainder of the season after he was injured in June.

But the versatile tall felt comfortable to make an earlier-than-anticipated return.

"He wasn't sure with his history of injuries whether he was wanting to push on and play this year," Kenna said.

"I spoke to him on Thursday and said 'if you're thinking of playing, I reckon this is the week you should think of doing it'.

"With a bit of encouragement he thought 'why not' and Lach played a good game."

Wareham played forward, giving the Bloods another target alongside league leading goal-kicker Will Kain.

"We'd probably been using him in the backline earlier in the season," Kenna said.

"But Lachie's probably played more footy forward than back (across his career)."

Warrnambool captain Sam Cowling, who handed the reins to Jackson Bell for the day, believes the Blues, who sit in eighth spot, are on an upwards trajectory.

He is confident they can push for finals next season.

"We feel our best is really good and the brand we want to play when we do that looks really exciting and the blokes are having fun," Cowling said.

"It is just sustaining that."

The 200-gamer, who was thrilled with Mitch Bidmade's work in the trenches and defender Finn Radley's intercept marking, is bullish about the Blues' long-term chances of success.

"The most promising part of it is what the coaches are trying to implement, we've seen it work," he said.

"It's stacked up against the better sides. You go back and say 'we've had a season at this new game plan and heading into pre-season, we've just got more time to fine-tune it'."

Warrnambool midfielders Darcy Graham (calf) and Damien McCorkell (unavailable) were late omissions for the Blues.

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