Having delivered the Lions to finals for the first time in four years this season, Hodgson will now stay at Clarke Oval until at the least the end of the 2023 Ballarat Football Netball League campaign.

"I'm really keen to keep going. We've got a really good young group, and I feel we've made some progress as the year's on gone on," Hodgson told The Courier.

IN OTHER NEWS:

"Although this year is not over, we're really looking forward to what we might be able to do in 2022."

The new deal is set to take Hodgson into his fifth year at the club.

The Lions' leader was forced to oversee an impromptu rebuild and guided his group into a defiant finals berth.

Sunbury snuck into the sixth in what turned out to be the final game of the home-and-away season, overcoming a halftime deficit to triumph by 10 goals against Lake Wendouree.

Just two rounds earlier, the Lions like out of contention in ninth, but rallied to win four of its last five matches.

Hodgson felt there was still plenty of growth in the playing group.

"It's a really young group, and going forward, there's plenty of upside," he said.

"A lot of kids have debuted this year, and there are a lot of guys who may have played one or two senior games that have ended up playing every game.

"We've seen the improvement, so the upside in the group is one of the most exciting things for me.

"We're really on the right track with the group we've got, and I expect most of the boys will be pretty keen to continue on the journey that they've started next year."

Player departures threatened to derail the Lions' season before it even began.

Lachie Bramble was elevated straight to Hawthorn's AFL list in February and has become an integral part of the Hawks' squad in recent weeks.

Reigning Henderson Medallist and club captain Alik Magin left for Queensland four rounds in, while interleague representative Mitch Conn also moved interstate.

Midfielders Jack and Dylan Landt left for new pastures, and first-choice ruck Jayden Eales suffered a serious knee injury in pre-season training.

Hodgson hinted the club would look to recruit a couple of "top-graders" in the summer, but was hoping the hard part of the rebuild was over.

"It's normal to have some players transition in and out, but it was very unusual the circumstances in which we lost players and the timing in when we lost them," he said.

"You wouldn't expect that to happen again."

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.