And in a further boost, star midfielder Brett Doswell returns to the club from Holbrook as assistant coach.

With Harding locked in until the end of the 2017 season, it leaves just Wangaratta Rovers and Corowa-Rutherglen without coaches for next season.

“I’m happy to get it locked in so we can continue to plan what we’re trying to do,” Harding said.

“Next year it would be great to get a taste of finals and realistically the year after go deep into finals.

“But we all understand where we are at and where we are coming from.”

The Dogs have also locked in the rest of their coaching staff, with Danny Cohen, Keith Ainsworth, Darren Mathey and Aaron West re-committing.

Harding is confident star forward Daniel Bradshaw will play on, while Ben Hollands’ future is uncertain.

He said he couldn’t wait to work with Doswell, 31, who has coached Hume league club Holbrook for the past three seasons.

“We are stoked because he brings class and polish to our midfield,” Harding said.

“He’s a great ball user, so we are really looking forward to what he can do on the field.”

Doswell is the first piece of the recruiting puzzle that Harding hopes will push the club into next year’s top five.

“We would love a gun key defender,” he said.

“We would love a gun 30-possession midfielder to help (John) Pratt and Josh Hicks out and we’d love a couple of gun forwards.

“That outside midfielder that uses the footy with polish would be good, too.

“As good as our kids are, they are terrific, but they need some top-end talent around them and that will improve them even further.” 

Harding has led the club to sixth on the ladder heading into its final-round home match with Lavington.

Wodonga has promoted youngsters Joe Stefani and George Haynes for their first senior games, while Lavington made one change at selection.

Jonathon Spina comes in for Sam Hargreave, who has an arm injury.

While it’s a dead-rubber in terms of ladder positions, Lavington wants to enter next week’s qualifying final with momentum.

“The main ingredients are attitude and effort and hopefully we can build on that confidence,” Panthers coach James Saker said.

“The physicality will be right up there so we are prepared for that.”