AFL’s Community Club of the Year — in action

By Rohan Aldous

Sep 4, 2023

Hard at work: Bruce Watson, father of senior coach Ash and a Goulburn Valley League Hall of Fame member, and his wife Helen have been a constant with the club and were typically industrious in the commitment they gave to the club during an extremely difficult year in the community.

Team effort is a term used in football when “best players’’ doesn’t necessarily apply to the result earned by a group of people with the same end goal — that is how Rochester Football Netball Club president Justin Cleary feels about his committee and army of volunteers from the 2023 Goulburn Valley League season.

Cleary admitted last week that when he attended the first meeting of the club, after the October floodwaters had subsided, there was a real threat of the club not getting a season of the ground.

“I looked around the room at that meeting and was amazed at the people who were there. Most didn’t have a house any more and others were looking after families or friends who were in the same boat,” he said.

Mr Cleary said that November meeting also involved informal discussions about whether the club pulls out of competition for 2023.

“For a very short time there was some thought we couldn’t do it,” he said.

“When I sat at that meeting I looked around the room and realised my house was intact and although there was damage to the homes of my extended family — and our business — I was in a position to help,” he said.

Last year’s president, Jeff Bright, had spoken about stepping down prior to the flood event, but remained a constant at the club.

Smiling faces: Rachel Cleary, Helen Ward and Deanna Palmer at the coffee stand which has not only been an important source of energy early on a Saturday morning, but an equally vital conversation service for people looking to gain some form of normality to an otherwise extraordinarily difficult year in Rochester.

Mr Cleary, a businessman of 21 years at Rochester’s Ampol Service Station, said the response to the club’s plight was unbelievable.

“We gained sponsors, in fact, we went from 60 to 100,” he said.

“Very few dropped off and even more jumped on.”

The club paid for all players’ dresses (netball) and jumpers (football). No player was required to find money for their club subscription or insurance and through the work of the club’s committee and executive there was strong mental health support provided.

“Brad McEwan offered an outreach service for mental health and was really great to use all year,” Mr Cleary said.

Free meals were provided to players after games and on Thursday evenings thanks to the work of hospitality co-ordinator Paul Evans — another Rochester businessman of several decades who made the recovery of the club a priority — and his wife Lisa (parents of three boys who played with the club, two who are still playing).

Free memberships were offered to the community through the Our Shout Campaign where thousands of dollars came into the club and allowed it to offer free entry to every Rochester community member to home games — which often had a theme and series of events to provide entertainment for those through the gate.

Off the field the club’s Melbourne supporter base allowed all junior players to receive gift vouchers from SportsPower and the club’s under-18 team also had free transport — thanks to coach Todd Woodfine — all season.

Doing their bit: Lisa and Paul Evans have spent most of their spare time contributing to the successful off-field management of Rochester Football Neball Club. They have been responsible for managing the hospitality services of the club, both the canteen and bar, while also keeping an eye on the on-field activity of sons Blake and Broden. Their third son, Rylan, is now retired. Paul played for the club in the ruck and has been in business for 20 years in the town.

“We haven’t been able to do these initiatives without support. (Campaspe) Council was great to us, along with our sponsors — new and old — who are too many in number to mention,” Mr Cleary said.

“Then there was the general public and the rest of the GV league. All those clubs know what they have done for us.

“We had so much support from such a broad area, it shocked me.”

Mr Cleary said he believed the club would have more followers as a result of this year’s activities it had become everyone’s second team — if it wasn’t already their first choice.

As a crowning moment for the club those same volunteers were at it again to host Sunday’s round of finals matches, attended by three members of the highly supportive Kyabram community.

Mr Cleary said it was difficult to put a price on just how much had been poured into the club in support of the 2023 season.

“The hours that some of our people did were amazing, including Katie Rasmussen, Sahra Heddington, Kate Lee and their many volunteers,” he said.

“We will come out of the season in a strong position, with new lights and a new scoreboard yet to be installed in the off-season.

“Hoping will have both of those in place by Christmas,” he said, explaining a grant from AFL Victoria for $25,000 was behind the scoreboard replacement, along with an input from the RFNC committee and recreation management committee.