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JOINED LEAGUE: 1913 TO 1914, 1973- NICKNAME: TIGERS GROUND: MOON OVAL COACH: ASH WATSON PRESIDENT: JUSTIN CLEARY PREMIERSHIPS: 1914, 1992, 1999, 2008 MORRISON MEDALLISTS: M. KEENAN (1988), P. MORGAN (1994), G. CAMPBELL (2011), A. WATSON (2015) 2023 FINISH: 10TH (4–14) 2023 BEST-AND-FAIREST: JOE ATLEY 2023 LEADING GOAL-KICKER: SEAN WILLIAMS (39)
PLAYER CHANGES
INS: Bailey Boyack (Echuca United), Hamish Heine (Uni Blues), Bailey McGee (Kyneton), Mitch Trewhella, Ryan O’Keeffe (Kangaroo Flat), Elliott Taylor (Newcomb), Dillon Williams (Eaglehawk)
OUTS:
Victoria’s reigning Community Club of the Year will have two club best and fairest winners headlining its list of recruits in 2024.
Rochester coach Ash Watson and his recruiting team have rallied in a similarly extraordinary fashion to the way in which the community recovered from the devastating impact of the October 2022 floods.
Rochester shapes as the big improver in the competition, having finished 10th last year.
Sean Williams led the goalkicking with 39 goals, but there is a plethora of new magnets for Watson to move around this season - including Ryan O’Keefe (formerly of Bendigo league club Kangaroo Flat) and Bailey Boyack (ex-Echuca United in the Murray League).
Boyack, who Watson said will play as a mid-forward, makes it a trifecta of Elmore stars now in Tigers colours, joining ruckman-forward Mitch Cricelli and defender Dylan Gordon.
O’Keefe, a key defender, was a stand out for Kangaroo Flat last year, winning the best and fairest 2023 in a team that finished third from the bottom with five wins. He played nine games with the Pioneers in 2021, the same year he played one game with Sydney Swans’ VFL team.
Mitch Trewhella, a strong inside-mid, followed a similar path to O’Keefe with Kangaroo Flat, making his senior debut in 2021 and finishing runner-up to O’Keefe in last season’s best and fairest.
Heine played 14 games with the Oakleigh Chargers in 2022, but played only three games with University Blues in the Amateurs last season.
Opportunist forward Bailey McGee, who was part of Kyneton’s sixth ranked team last year, also played Pioneers football in 2021.
The recruits join reigning best and fairest Joe Atley, the returning Doug Wren (who spent the entire season on the sidelines in 2023) and Nathan Marrone, named co-captain last year, but also injured for the whole season.
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