A Wangaratta derby to decide the senior football premiers of the Ovens and Murray – it’s so perfectly scripted, it should be up for an Oscar.

The season comes to a head this Sunday when Rovers take on Magpies at the Lavington Sports Ground from 2.30pm in what has the makings of an all-time classic.

For the brown and gold, it presents a chance to secure back-to-back flags for the first time since 1993-’94, and there are plenty of reasons why they could actually pull it off.

The Rovers have been seen as the benchmark of the competition all year, and for good reason.

After doing the deed in the last match of 2024, the Rovers recovered well from their opening round loss, stringing together a six-match winning streak before tasting defeat again.

They haven’t always put teams to the sword, but they’ve always done enough to get the job done.

Rovers coach Sam Murray said his side has been putting the work in to show the 2024 flag wasn’t a flash in the pan, but the start of a dynasty.

“It’s been a long time since this club had success and even longer since they’ve had sustained success,” he said.

“That was the Rovers of old, when they won premierships back in the day they were able to stay consistent and stay at the top for a long period of time.

“We’re trying to create our own history with that. It’s exciting, we’ve worked really hard to get here, nothing’s come lightly.

“We’ve spent a lot of time getting ourselves in the right position, training and working really hard, and it’s a credit to the boys, but now it’s time this weekend to go one more.

“It’s obviously a day we’ve had a little bit of experience with now through our efforts last year, so we’re looking forward to getting to do it again.”

They’ve certainly got the talent to get the job done – Murray is arguably the best player in the competition, averaging 30 disposals, seven marks and five inside 50s a game just by himself.

Throw in the damaging ruck-forward combo of Ed Dayman and Will Christie, midfield ball magnet Charlie Thompson, the versatile Nathan Cooper, Rising Star Noah Scholte, and newly-minted Morris Medallist Lochie O’Brien, and the list is starting to wander into superlative territory.

The depth of talent in the brown and gold is almost oppressive in its elite-ness – it will take something miraculous to deny them the flag.

“We’ve obviously recruited two really key important players for us in Nathan Cooper and Charlie Thompson, who have added some really important depth in certain areas of our game where we needed a little bit more profile,” Murray said.

“We’ve continued to build on the really good work we did last year, we’re really comfortable with our style and the way in which we play and approach the game, so it’s just about being able to compound and get that better.

“The time that we’ve been able to spend in working on our game has allowed us to essentially become better at it over a longer period.”

Murray said the match would be their most difficult challenge all year, with the derby stage and the grand final coinciding perfectly.

“I don’t think Wangaratta have overachieved at all, I think they’ve achieved right to where they are,” he said.

“They’re a good side, they’ve got good depth, they’ve got great leaders and some game-winners, so we’ve got to be at our best on Sunday and make sure we’re able to compete right to the very end.

“The derby in itself has that extra weight, but our boys have really enjoyed and thrived off the challenge over the last few years, we’ve been able to get ourselves on the right side of the ledger more often than not, but there’s no doubt Magpies are going to come with a really strong brand.

“We respect them a lot, and we’re looking forward to having that battle.”