It was also the last time Dunnstown made the top four in the Central Highlands Football League.

The Towners finished third that season, but were bundled out by Waubra in an elimination final, the finals system different then owing to a 14-team competition.

Another two finals series followed in 2010 and 2011, before ladder finishes of 11th, 16th, 17th, 13th, 10th and ninth for Dunnstown.

They finished eighth in 2018, but fell back to ninth in 2019.

For club president Peter Bowman, having the senior side challenging at the top end of the ladder again has been a reward for a couple of years of strong, specific recruiting.

"We've been selective in our recruiting. We've tried to go for a few talls this year, which we've lacked over the past few years, especially in the forward line," he said.

"We've always had a really good core of locals. To top up that with a few talls has been probably what's changed us this year."

The locals he speaks of are the likes of Will and Mitch Henderson, Brayden and Jack Leonard, Lachlan Taylor, Aidan Murphy, Riley Adams, Kade Rattley and Ben Collins, all of whom played seniors in round 17.

The Henderson brothers, Brayden, Jack and Aidan were members of Dunnstown's under-15 grand final side from 2012.

The recruits he speaks of are the likes of Scott Howson (forward) and Khyle Forde (ruck), who joined the club in pre-season.

Baiden Cracknell and Lleyton Pigott from Bacchus Marsh joined the club mid-season, adding some depth to the list.

With key defender Angus Thompson out for the season with a knee injury, the inclusion of Cracknell has helped shore up Dunnstown's back six for the finals.

Coach Glenn Wilkins, who joined the club as senior coach at the end of 2019, credits his players for the Dunnstown's strong regular season.

The side leaked 8.4 to Waubra in the opening quarter in round one, but in the remaining three terms the Towners kicked 8.9 to 4.7, bringing the margin back to 17 points by game's end.

Since that clash, Dunnstown has beaten three of the existing top eight sides from five tries, one of those losses by two points to Springbank.

"To the boys' credit, they sort of took it upon themselves. I think they were just a bit shell-shocked (against Waubra)," Wilkins said.

"We took a lot from that game. If we'd lost by 100 points, it is very, very hard to get them up the following week.

"We just started to have belief I suppose and trust (that) what we were doing works."

That belief led to drought-breaking wins over Bungaree and Buninyong, a comeback victory over Rokewood-Corindhap in the coldest and muddiest day of the season and some dominant wins over Beaufort, Learmonth and Carngham-Linton.

"The Bungaree game was just a day where everything clicked. We played four quarters and just played really good footy," Wilkins said.

"I think the more games we played together, the more confidence the boys got within our system."

That belief has helped the Towners to fourth spot on the ladder with a healthy percentage of 159.35, a clash with minor premier Gordon next on the radar.

The two sides did not meet during the season owing to lockdown, but Wilkins is aware of the strength Gordon possesses.

"They're obviously a very, very good side," he said.

"It's going to be a big job for us but the beauty about it is it's a level playing field now, everybody's at the same stage.

"They're there to be beaten. We have to obviously play our best footy, there's no question... but we're confident in our game plan and we'll certainly give it a red-hot go."

Dunnstown's reserves are also in the top four, finishing the regular season third.

"The most impressive thing to me is that we've actually got both seniors and reserves in the top four at once.

"I couldn't tell you the last time that happened," Bowman said.