Embrace the moment.

That’s been the message from Wangaratta thirds coach Chris Knowles to his young Magpie troops as they look to be the first of Wangaratta’s premiership hopefuls to be lifting the cup at Lavington Sportsground on Sunday.

Just like Knowles’ senior counterparts, the Magpies thirds have hit their straps when it’s mattered most and stormed into the grand final on the back of a six-game win streak and a big win against their previously undefeated crosstown rivals on home turf a fortnight ago.

The Magpies used the week off to put their future prospects to the test and held a scratch match at the Wangaratta Showgrounds last Saturday morning.

Knowles said his team were feeling fresh and pumped to be running out in front of thousands against Lavington, and he encouraged his team to take in all the highs and lows in chasing premiership glory.

“A lot of people like to say grand finals are just another game of footy, it’s not, it does carry a bit of extra weight and all of your nerves and excitement are good if you use them in the right way,” he said.

“That’s what we’ve been speaking about over the last couple of weeks and using our emotions to our advantage.”

During the week Owain Boyle saw the rewards of a terrific season through the midfield with a fourth placed finish in the league best and fairest count on Monday night and will be spearheading the Magpies engine room once again.

He has been well supported throughout the year by many different contributors including the likes of Angus Jayet, Will Peterson and ruckmen Cooper Newton and Hamish Laverty.

But Knowles said it has taken far more than the one contributor to have taken the team this far, crediting his side’s maturity throughout the year as the driving force behind their late season purple patch.

“We’ve just talked about the whole time clicking at the right time of year and using losses as learning points and they’ve just done that tremendously well,” he said.

“We’ve always spoken about needing 22 blokes to contribute come finals time and it’s to the boys credit.

“They’ve had the right mindset coming into these games and even the last few games of the regular season as well.”

Wangaratta and Lavington have played a trilogy of thrillers this season, including Wangaratta’s stirring comeback win in the qualifying final a few weeks ago.

The ‘Pies were down by as much as 21 points in the last quarter before storming home to win by just over a goal.

The Panthers boast plenty of star power with the likes of newly crowned Leo Dean medalist Cooper Hall and Riley Costello through the midfield.

Lavington were held goalless in the opening half of the preliminary final, but the Panthers ran the Rovers off the ground to sneak home by two points and earn their chance at a premiership.

Knowles said the battle on Sunday would most likely be won in the midfield as he looked to his side’s depth as the key to their success.

“Their top six or seven players are really good thirds footballers and will be really good seniors footballers over the next couple of years,” he said.

“We feel if we are able to shut them down, our next 15 blokes will be able to get the job done for us.

“It’s going to be won or lost in the midfield, they’ve got a really good setup, but if we get on top and we win the territory battle it starves them of opportunity.”

First bounce of the thirds will take place at 9am.