Following the departure of Justin Abrams, the Towners have announced Ballarat coaching legend Glenn Wilkins as the side's new senior football coach and Peter Bowman as president.

Wilkins' last coaching role in the region was with East Point in the Ballarat Football League, where he sat at the helm for three years, taking the Roos to a pair of finals appearances.

Bowman, who came into the club last year as an assistant coach, praised the work of Abrams in his time with the club and said he hopes Dunnstown can continue its upward momentum following the hire of Wilkins.

"Hopefully we're on an upward spiral," he said.

"Over the past five years Justin Abrams did a great job taking us from the bottom to the finals last year and just missing out this year."

When Abrams announced he would depart the club at seasons end in July, he told The Courier he believed he had taken the playing group as far as he could. Bowman echoed these sentiments and said he believes Wilkins will breath new life into the playing group.

"Justin was here for five years so it was probably time for a new approach... a lot of our players had only ever had Justin as a coach so it certainly doesn't hurt to have someone new talking.

"Glenn's attributes and experience are probably one of the best in the Ballarat region, he's done a lot and will bring a new energy and a new direction to the club... I think he brings a lot of experience and will provide us a new direction."

A Henderson Medal winner with Sebastopol in 1996 and 2003 Redan premiership player, Wilkins has also spent time at the North Ballarat Roosters as an assistant coach, as well as being at the helm of the North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup in 2009 and 2010.

He also played and coached Donald in the North Central Football League, winning a premiership in 2004 as playing coach and 2006 as a player.

Looking towards the Towners list going into 2020, Bowman said the club's top priority is to retain its current players while supplementing it's group with some '"class" recruits.

"We're just looking to top up the list with a few class players... we're competitive in every game we play, I just think we need some class players to help us get over the line."

Wilkins will meet with the Dunnstown board this week to discuss recruiting and the club's direction heading into next season.

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