IT'S a sporting love story that would not be out of place on the silver screen…

Shortly after Brooke Henwood won her first netball premiership with her Wangaratta Magpies teammates in Sunday's Ovens and Murray C grade grand final at Lavington, she got word that the Wangaratta Rovers team featuring her partner, Will Nolan, was leading Yarrawonga in the senior football grand final on the adjoining oval.

Having snatched a glimpse of the first couple of minutes of the footy before focusing on her own game, where she shot 15 goals in the 'Pies' 37-25 victory over Wodonga Raiders, Brooke managed to catch the end of the Hawks' thrilling march to the flag.

Thus, not only did the couple achieve the rare feat of winning dual premierships at the same venue on the same day, they did it at virtually the same time - and for clubs which are traditionally diametrically opposed.

Both were drought-breaking wins; the 'Pies had not won a C grade flag for 12 years and Brooke was part of the nucleus which had weathered some lean years, while the Rovers had waited three decades for their premiership, and Will was among those who had hung in through the Hawks' tough times.

Last time the Rovers saluted in the senior footy grand final, Will's dad, Mark, was a member of the premiership side; exactly 30 years later, the long-sought success came in a season during which Will had notched his 100-game milestone for the Hawks - in a Good Friday derby against the 'Pies.

Add to that the fact that Brooke grew up spending weekends on one side of Golf Links Lane at the Norm Minns Oval where dad Craig played cricket for Wangaratta-Magpies and brother Ben won a thirds footy premiership in 2011, while young Will was steeped in his family's Rovers tradition on the other side of the lane at the WJ Findlay Oval.

You simply couldn't script it any better.

Brooke said she and Will attracted plenty of banter about their opposing club allegiances, most often Wangaratta's older generations.

"Among younger people, a lot are friends and don't think about who follows which club, but the older generation tell us that back in the day it was tense," she said.

Will said he'd seen the rivalry still alive at derby games, though, when teammate Tom Boyd, a teacher, was often ribbed at huddles by his Magpie-supporting students.

He said he and Brooke had grown accustomed to comparisons with Romeo and Juliet (the Shakespearean 'two households, both alike in dignity' in this case being footy clubs rather than families).

Their union has withstood such teasing - though neither is likely to ever cross the lane and switch clubs.

"I love the (Magpies) girls; we spend six hours or more together on Saturday, and two nights a week at training, as well as lots of texting in between, I enjoy playing with them," Brooke said.

Will said the deep Nolan connection to the Hawks meant he "would have been disowned" if he played anywhere else, but he had never looked to leave Wangaratta and loved the Rovers, so he was happy there - particularly as a premiership player.

With their flags spaced 30 years apart, Will said he and Mark were looking forward to attending reunions together.

"He always used to say I'm a better player but he was a premiership player - but now…," he said.

Mark was one of two 1994 premiership Hawks who passed the baton to their sons on Sunday, with Alex Marklew becoming a third generation Rovers flag hero, following in the footsteps of dad Rick and grandfather Roly (1960, '71 and '72).

"It's pretty good to look back on," Will said.

Meanwhile, Brooke said the Magpies' success in C grade netball and with their first reserves footy flag since 1985, as well as having the thirds footballers contest the grand final against the Rovers, had been exciting for the club and its supporters, and she'd loved being part of it.

"The crowd around the netball court was so loud - they were definitely our eighth player," she said.

"It's great for Wangaratta, too, to have so many teams involved."

Indeed, the under 17 Rovers netballers also represented the city on grand final day at Lavington, and the records show that Sunday was the first time in league history that all three football flags have ended up in Wangaratta - surely a boon for local sport, and for the endurance of the rivalry between these two feuding houses.