Thirty-plus Rochester Football Netball Club premiership players will return to the club on Saturday for a joint reunion of the 1962 and 1992 premiership teams.
Fourteen members of the 1962 team, whose two youngest members are 80 years old, have committed to attend the function and all but a couple of the 1992 team will be in attendance.
The 1962 premiership team was part of a golden era for Rochester football, in the Bendigo league, earning the mantle as premier and champion for the season.
It was during a period when Rochester made eight successive grand finals, winning half of them.
The 1992 team made history in its own right, being the first Goulburn Valley League premiership team after the club had rejoined the competition.
It beat Tatura in that match, by two points in the wet, and the former stars will watch on as the 2022 Tigers battle Tatura again on Saturday — in round four of the GVL season.
Prior to the 1992 victory the Rochester club had won only one GV pennant, in 1914, before joining the Bendigo league.
Since 1992 the club has won premierships in 1999 and 2008.
Dave Williams coached the 1992 team, having returned to Rochester after being traded to Richmond — from Melbourne — at the end of the 1988 season.
His last game for the Demons was a grand final, with injuries preventing him from playing with the Tigers. His return to Rochester was triumphant.
Williams said all but his former Melbourne teammates, Jamie Duursma and Dean Duursma, were expected to be in attendance.
Jamie Duursma only played the one season with the club.
Dean Duursma returned to Rochester with Williams in 1991, when the team just missed out on the finals.
The club secured the services of Adam Edwards, “Bluey’’ Callaghan and David Putamorsi for 1992, which enhanced its premiership chances after losing the 1989 and 1990 grand finals when coached by Jeff Vandermeer.
Williams said the intention, on returning to Rochester, was always to coach.
Vandermeer played the first five or six games of 1992 before finishing with the club.
While recruiting was important to the 1992 Williams team, he also inherited plenty of experience with the likes of Simon McCarty, Tank McPhee and Shane Dupee.
“At one stage there were nine players in the Goulburn Valley league had that played 200 games, and Rochester had five of them,” Williams said.
The premiership team almost completed back to back titles, but was beaten in a controverisal end to the 1993 premiership — something certain to come up on Saturday — when Shepparton kicked a goal after the siren to win the title.
Williams said there were several “hard luck’’ stories from his time as coach of the Tigers, but Darren Chugg was one that stood out in his memory.
“He played a lot of games that year (1992), but missed out on the grand final. In 1993, when we lost, he missed out again,” he said.
“I remember one of our greats, Bruce Watson, also missing out on a grand final. You just can’t fit 25 into 20,” he said.
Williams said the team had conducted two reunions, at 10 and 20 years, but had never joined with the 1962 premiership players to recognise their achievements.
Next week’s Campaspe News will feature photos, and more stories, from the reunion and flashbacks from the stars of those matches.