If you drive through Euroa at 2.40pm on Sunday, all you will hear is the warble of magpies and the sound of the wind blowing in the town’s picturesque trees.
The streets will be empty, the shops closed and hardly a soul will be seen.
Where will the people be, you ask?
Some 40 minutes north at Shepparton’s Deakin Reserve watching their beloved Magpies battle Echuca in their first Goulburn Valley League grand final since 2005.
Like every country town in Victoria, Euroa is football mad.
Every winter the locals meet, either at their local Memorial Oval — huddled around the famous hot dog stand — or at football grounds across the Goulburn Valley, donning the black and white to cheer their boys on.
Unfortunately for this passionate band of supporters, successful seasons have been few and fair between in recent years.
Sporting the second longest premiership drought in the GVL, the Magpies haven’t held the Hastie Cup aloft since 1990, and over the past three decades have often found themselves filling out the bottom rungs of the ladder.
However, with family connections at the forefront, Euroa has undergone a revival over the past two years, with the likes of Giobbi boys Ben and Adam, Gleeson trio Jayden, Jacob and Max, Trotter pairing Jett and Nate and reliable Garsides Dan and Tom leading the way.
Dropping just seven games over the past two seasons, the Magpies have quickly established themselves as a GVL powerhouse, and on Sunday will finally get the opportunity to bring premiership glory back to their town.
A former player and long-time member of the club, senior coach Scott Rowan said it was an honour to be the man leading the Magpies on to the grand final stage for the first time in 17 years.
“This is massive for the club and a huge honour to be the one holding the badge to lead them; I played all my junior footy at Euroa, moved away for a little bit and then came back to coach, so to give the town this opportunity — it is very special to me,” Rowan said.
“There is a real sense of local camaraderie with this club, the well wishes from people in the town have been overwhelming, messages from past players — it feels like everyone involved with Euroa has been riding this wave with us.
“If you drive through town it is painted black and white, and the support on Sunday is going to be huge and we just want to make them proud.”
Euroa’s run to the grand final has been a bit of a roller coaster.
Finishing in third spot on the ladder, the Magpies began their finals campaign in grand style, romping past reigning premier Kyabram by 49 points in the elimination final.
They were then handed a serious 74-point reality check by Echuca in the first semi-final a week later, before rebounding strongly with a 24-point win over Mansfield to book a ticket to the big dance.
Now one of the last two teams standing, Rowan said his players were excited by the opportunity.
“The build-up has been really good, there is a lot excitement around the group and the players are really soaking up the week,” he said.
“As a club we realise just how big of an opportunity this is, we know we have to be at our very best to be competitive, and from what I’ve seen on the track, the boys look primed to be at their best on Sunday.”
Despite the oodles of talent set to don the black and white on Sunday, Euroa comes into this game a firm outsider.
Having faced the Murray Bombers three times this season, it is yet to get within seven goals of the rampant minor premier.
And if this finals series is anything to go by, Echuca looks to be really hitting its stride leading into the grand final, with an almost full-strength line-up resulting in a pair of 10-goal wins in the first two weeks of the finals.
“With being dubbed underdogs, we can understand why that would be the case, they are a very good team and have done the job on us a few times this year,” Rowan said.
“We know we have to play a lot better than we have in the past, and we are all in agreement that we are more than capable of doing that on Sunday and embrace being underdogs.
“If we play the way we want to play and get off to a good start, I’m confident we have the talent and game plan to get the job done.”
On the selection front, Euroa is poised to make two changes for Sunday’s clash, with Max Gleeson returning from a concussion and Adam Giobbi recovering from a calf complaint to take his spot across half back.
Winger Matt Ivill and defender Jarmyn Tremellen have made way for the returning duo.
With co-captain Jacob Gleeson the only bona fide starter set to miss, Rowan said he was excited to see his side take to a grand final.
“Sunday is just going to be the next level for our boys. If you look at our experienced midfielders like Ben Giobbi and Jack Hellier, they have shown over the past few weeks what they can do alongside guys like Andrew Smith and Jett Trotter,” he said.
“But for me it’s the whole 22 I’m excited to see, these boys are going to love the grand final stage.”