When Wangaratta Rovers reserves won their last flag, Darcy Booth and Luke Peters were teenage members of the premiership side.

Eighteen years on from that 68-point victory over Albury, which came after grand final losses in the two previous seasons, the pair are preparing for the Hawks' latest tilt at the reserves title - this time as co-coaches.

"It's really come full-circle," Booth said in the lead-up to Sunday's clash with minor premier Lavington, which trounced Myrtleford by 90 points in last week's preliminary final.

The Booth-Peters co-coaching arrangement had its origins at the Findlay Oval in 2022, and they took the Hawks' reserves to a grand final meeting with Yarrawonga that year, before stepping aside to concentrate on playing.

Now back sharing the role, they've guided the current crop of reserves to within a win of premiership glory.

In the tradition of seconds footy, this year's Hawks combination has included a number of graduates from the successful Rovers thirds program, alongside a smattering of experienced players including Mitch Booth and captain Nic Henderson - the latter having suffered two knee injuries which ruled him out - and the two coaches taking the fields at various stages.

The Hawks come up against a Lavington side playing on its home deck on Sunday, but having carved themselves a straight path to the grand final including a 22-point semi-final win over this week's opponent, they know they can match the Panthers.

"Lavi are a very good side, and have gotten stronger since our last match-up, with senior players like Nic Sedgwick and Drew Beavan coming back in, but we've beaten them in all three of our encounters this year," Booth said.

"Among our prime movers will be Harry McMonigle, who is a class above in the twos, and Oscar Clelland, who won the reserves goalkicking award (at Monday's Morris Medal presentation)."

That win made it back-to-back league goalkicking awards for Clelland, after he took out the thirds' John Longmire Medal in 2024.

"We've also got Max Cullen in the ruck, Joe Allen who's had a great year, and Sam Rourke, who's reinvented himself as a centre-half-forward and played some senior footy," Booth said.

The Rovers' Sam Comensoli was also on the leaderboard at Monday night's medal count, finishing runner-up in the Leo Burke Medal (the league's reserves best and fairest award) to Lavington's Harryson Barber, who will be among the Panthers' players to watch on Sunday, along with Sam Hargreaves and 300-game player Adam Butler.

Booth said the two sides played a very similar style of football, and he expected the game to be won in the midfield.

"We want to win it," Booth said.

"Regardless of the result, though, it speaks to the health of the club that both the seniors and reserves are there on Sunday.

"We've been really fortunate to have lots of numbers this year, with a very young list across the club; a healthy list can also create problems at times - telling blokes they have to miss out is probably the toughest part of the job."

Despite the fact there may be some tough calls still to make this week, Booth said it was an exciting time for the club, offering great signs for the future.