Gallery | Rochester rocks the Eagles to book first Goulburn Valley League grand final berth in nine years
The job was done and the song sung, but one piece of business remained for a triumphant Rochester at Deakin Reserve on Sunday.
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A length of rope marked intermittently with spray paint, signifying every win of the Tigers’ campaign, lay in front of the playing squad, a symbolic look at the clubs’ journey to the Goulburn Valley League grand final.
Coach Ash Watson invited Under-14 captain Asher Rasmussen, a newly minted premiership player that day, to do the honours - spray the latest notch on the rope.
He obliged, and the roar from the yellow and black faithful, which had already reached a significant decibel during the club song, went up again.
That’s because Rochester was through to its first Goulburn Valley League grand final in nine years.
After narrowly defeating arch-rivals Echuca by a goal last week, the Tigers exorcised the ghosts of last year's preliminary final loss, clinching an 11.15 (81) to 7.13 (55) victory over Mansfield.
There was no mistaking it this time – Rochester earned its ticket to its first GVL decider since 2016 and a rematch against Kyabram.
“It’s pretty special,” Tigers’ coach Ash Watson said.
“We got to the prelim last year and fell short against the Bears, so to go one step further and make it to the grand final is fantastic.”
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Drew Lloyd gets his kick away under pressure from Jack Hutchins. Photo by Megan FisherImage 2 of 6
Rochester's Wil Hamilton stands the mark. Photo by Megan FisherImage 3 of 6
Rochester's Sean Williams celebrates after kicking a goal. Photo by Megan FisherImage 4 of 6
Mansfield keep the game alive. Photo by Megan FisherImage 5 of 6
Rochester's Nash Ramage and Mansfield's Jack Hutchins compete in the air. Photo by Megan FisherImage 6 of 6
Mansfield's Ben Les gets boot to ball. Photo by Megan FisherFrom the first siren, Rochester’s intentions were clear, firing off the first three majors.
Hugh Hamilton kicked two of those, but it was Drew Lloyd, 70 metres out on the wing, who had the goal of the day early, his kick to the top of the square instead sailing over the pack and bouncing through.
Jayden Howes stemmed the bleeding with the Eagles’ first goal, followed by a slick snap around the body from Jack Marks.
Foster drew Mansfield back within two points at quarter-time, and the Eagles rode that momentum into the second, with goals to Sam Thomson and Foster again firing them to a 16-point lead to flip the game on its head.
Wil Hamilton steadied for the Tigers at the other end as their tackling pressure, which included two goal-saving efforts from Nathan McCarty and Harry Moon, went up a notch, and Cooper Hamilton echoed that with his own crunching effort and goal.
Bailey Wileman was then infringed close to goal, calm and collected with his kick to send the Tigers into half-time with a 43-39 lead and the game still in the balance.
With foot skills poor all day, the game would be won at the coal face, forcing defensive contemporaries Ryan O’Keefe and Dirk Koenen to hold fast for their respective sides.
Sean Williams broke through for the first goal of the third term, joined shortly after by James McPhee to fire the Tigers out to 20 points.
Despite Rochy’s superior pressure, Mansfield wasn’t lying down.
A pinpoint Ben Christopher pass set up Billy Hogan for his first goal of the day before co-coach Jack Hutchins, imposing himself in the air, hit his set shot to once again keep the Eagles in striking distance.
With two goals the buffer the way of Rochester, however, the Tigers weren’t letting this one slip away.
The midfield trio of Cooper Hamilton, Mitch Trewhella, and Lloyd dominated the centre, while Adam McPhee chopped off an errant Eagles kick to all but stamp the Tigers' grand final berth.
The sealer, however, came from veteran Sean Williams, confirming the 26-point win.
“There was a period of time in the second quarter when they had a lot of momentum, but I thought for most of the day we played the way we wanted to play,” Watson said.
“We put the pressure on and made the most of our chances, which was good.
“I thought in the midfield, Drew Lloyd and Mitch Trewhella were really good.
“Down back, I thought we held up really strongly; Ryan O’Keefe and Matt Kellett were really good down there.
“Cooper Hamilton was solid on-ball, as well as our ruckman Hammer (Hamish Hooppell).”
Rochester’s reward is its first game in the GVL grand final since 2016, with their mission to unseat a Kyabram side that had the Tigers’ measure by 42 points in the qualifying final.
And should they achieve that, Rochester will have a greater prize to bring back to Moon Oval – its first premiership since 2008.
“As we spoke about, we’re not finished yet,” Watson said.
“We’ll put our best foot forward next week against Ky, who are flying.
“We’ll just keep it pretty normal, we’ll train Wednesday and Friday.
“There will be a few sore boys, so it’ll be pretty quiet early in the week.”