Ovens and Murray Football League coach Damian Sexton has challenged his players to rise to the higher level against Goulburn Valley at Shepparton's Deakin Reserve on Saturday.
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The O and M has won the three most recent clashes against its fiercest rivals.
"If you want to become a good player, you've got to beat a good player," Sexton stressed.
"It's very simple, here's an opportunity to become a good player."
Since the AFL Victoria Country Championships were abandoned in late 2019 and then COVID stuck for two years, the O and M-GV rivalry has carried Victorian representative football.
When reintroduced in 2022, the O and M claimed its equal third-biggest win with a 55-point caning.
From that team, Wangaratta's Joe Richards was drafted to Collingwood 18 months later and recently made his senior debut, Wodonga Raiders' Max Beattie joined Woodville-West Torrens and then narrowly missed winning a rookie spot at Fremantle last February, while Corowa-Rutherglen's Kaelan Bradtke joined Richmond nine months later.
"The objective is for you blokes to be on show but, first and foremost, we must be in front for you to be on show," Sexton said to his players at the final training session on Wednesday night.
Yarrawonga midfielder Harry Wheeler and Wodonga defender Charlie Morrison are the co-captains, with Wangaratta Rovers' duo Tom Boyd and Brodie Filo the co-vice-captains.
It's a team picked on form with the top three clubs in the O and M - Yarrawonga, Rovers and Wodonga - boasting four players apiece.
The forecast is mostly sunny and 18 degrees.
"The ground's got plenty of wing room, it's a wide ground, but not overly long, and they're very young, like us, we'll be very evenly matched," Sexton suggested.
The rivals first met in 1930, with the O and M holding a 17-10 advantage.
The match starts at 2.15pm.
