He's a premiership full-back and has represented the Hampden league, played TAC Cup and won Victorian Country Football League under 19 honours all before he turned 20.

Tomorrow he lines up for his second consecutive grand final with Warrnambool against South Warrnambool, but he revealed he's endured some nightmare moments in recent weeks.

After starting the year at full-back in superb form , which he carried into the interleague contest in May, Cowling was the rock which Warrnambool built its defence around.

But a hamstring injury in round 10 sidelined Cowling until the round 14 match against Port Fairy. His return brought a sigh of relief from the Blues, who were building towards the finals. But Cowling, by his own admission, struggled.

"As soon as I did it (the hamstring), I was away at trade school in Melbourne and the recovery wasn't good," he said.

"I was playing catch up. I felt good on the track and I couldn't see where I was going wrong. I would get to game day and it wasn't gelling, it wasn't coming together.

"Everyone kept supporting me. I felt it was my first form slump. I've always been consistent, but I felt like I was lost. It was terrible. It was a mental thing, I think."

With the support of teammates and the coaching staff, the Blues persevered with Cowling at full-back as he fought to rediscover his best form.

Then coach Scott Carter produced a masterstroke, starting Cowling up forward in the cut-throat first semi-final against Terang Mortlake.

"It was great," Cowling said. "It was refreshing more than anything. To play full-back you don't have to be the smartest player, but to play up forward you have to think a bit more about it. You are released from the shackles.

"I even got to have a run in the ruck with Rhys Raymond out. It sort of rejuvenated me.

"It was more a mental thing. I was drained at full-back and I wasn't playing well. It was great to have a run around, come back and be refreshed. It was a good move by Scott Carter."

Cowling returned to his customary defensive best last Saturday in the preliminary final against Koroit.

But Carter may have created a headache for himself, with Cowling revealing he would love to play more up forward.

The Powercor apprentice linesman said he wanted to be able to give his side more spark and had plans to expand his role next season.

"I'm trying to model myself on (South Warrnambool's) Jarrod Thompson. I want to be that sort of player who fills in the gaps, I want to be able to be used wherever they need me," he said.

Cowling said he was setting himself to improve his running capacity so he could venture into the midfield.

But tomorrow he knows his role will be down back, where he will be up against the league's most productive forward line, which includes full-forward Sam Kelly and centre half-forward Jason Bourke.

"It's going to be good," Cowling said.

"I'm just really excited for the boys, especially the older boys like Josh Walters and Dustin (McCorkell) . We've been up there for four years and I reckon it would be good to get another one for those boys."