It has been a whirlwind season for Rochester Football Netball Club as it celebrated its 150th year.
As the season heads towards its conclusion, two Tigers sides are looking forward to grand finals this Sunday, while the rest can look back on a commendable year which saw the club making strides on and off the field.
Club president Justin Cleary spoke to Campaspe News ahead of last weekend’s preliminary finals.
“Both football and netball, I think, have had outstanding years, given the challenges of two years ago and the way we’ve recovered,” he said.
“It’s a credit to everybody in the whole community how they’ve rallied around the club and the club’s rallied around the community.”
In senior football, the Tigers, under the guidance of coach Ash Watson, improved from 10th in 2023 to a preliminary final appearance this year, while the reserves will feature on grand final day.
Rochy’s under-18s football side missed out on finals by 0.24 percentage points.
“Even though it was disappointing ultimately to not make finals, three years ago we didn’t actually have an under-18s side,” Cleary said.
On the netball side, the B-reserve squad has made its way into the grand final while B-grade fell just two goals short of mimicking its efforts in the preliminary final at the weekend.
The A-grade side suffered through the loss of both starting goalers during a period where it would have expected to pick up most of its wins, ultimately unable to do enough to make finals once back to full strength.
The club’s 150th anniversary has also coincided with several huge off-field moments.
Rochy played a home night game in round two after new lights were installed at Moon Oval during the off-season.
The 2023 AFL community club of the year was also chronicled both on screen and on the page during 2024, with a documentary featured on Fox Sports and Mark Gullick’s book The Locals chronicling the entire history of the club.
“(The documentary) has actually gone national. We’re so proud out of that production, and the book by Mark Gullick has set the bar for historical books on football clubs,” Cleary said.
Overall, Cleary was appreciative and impressed with the support the club has seen throughout the year.
“Our home games have been as well supported as I can remember,” he said.
“Some of the crowds we’ve had this year rivalled any of the finals crowds I’ve seen so far.
“We feel like we’ve got a really good culture going at the moment and we feel people are enjoying the environment that the club is bringing.
“There’s been something this year for everybody and we’re really happy with the way we’ve marked such a milestone of 150 years.”