It will be a double celebration as the Dave Williams coached 1992 premiership team will also be on hand to commemorate 30 years since the club’s first Goulburn Valley league premiership.
Bruce Major, who was among the youngest members of the premiership team at 20-years-old, said six of the team still lived in the area.
Major started playing with Rochester in 1958, as a teenager, and after serving his apprenticeship in the reserves moved into senior ranks.
He ended his career at Bamawm as business commitments forced a premature end to his career.
Between 1958 and 1965 Rochester played in eight successive grand finals, winning four of those.
“Most of the 14 blokes who are returning for the reunion played in several of those grand finals,” Major said.
Rochester won back to back Bendigo league premierships on two occasions, in 1958-59 and 1962-63.
“Spencer Broome played in all eight grand finals and Darryl Hooper played in seven,” Major said.
“Ken (Ingram) and I played in five apiece.”
Major turned 80 in November last year and together with Bob Sill will be the youngest member of the grand final reunion.
“Bob Kelly is 87 now. He lives in Melbourne and will be back for the day, his family is bringing him up for the reunion,” Major said.
The four Rochester-based members of the team are Daryl Hooper, Brian Jones, Spencer Broom and Major.
Ken Ingram lives just out of Elmore and Daryl Dobell is also at Elmore.
Major, a devotee to the golf course, only watches two or three games a year.
One of those will be the Saturday, April 23, meeting with Tatura.
He recalled the grand final against Golden Square being a terribly windy day, hence the scoreline of 9.17 (71) to 7.20 (62).
In 1961 the team was runners-up in the grand final to Kyneton.
Then, with eight or 10 new players, was premier in 1962.
They repeated the feat in 1963 under coach Con O’Toole, who was a policeman in Rochester.
“If we was still alive he would have been 91 or 92 years old now,” Major said.
“He passed seven of eight years ago. His son, Mark, was the mascot, and he will be back for the reunion.”
In 1962 the Bendigo league won the Victorian country championship and being unbeaten Rochester could lay claim to being the best side in country Victoria.
In the 1962 grand final Ray Willet was outstanding, the former Collingwood player having joined the club after accepting a teaching role at Strathallan as a 21-year-old.
“He won every award in the Bendigo league. He is coming back, he lives at Corowa now. He was the best and fairest for the club and the league that year,” Major said.
The team had a reunion five years ago and Major said it was decided to have another now, while so many members were able to attend.
“We thought we better have one this year, instead of waiting another five years,” he said.
Rochester Football Club’s Rob Aitken said a lunch would be held for both these sides from noon until 2pm in our social rooms.
“Anyone else that may have played during that season or who may have helped at committee level or as a volunteer, is invited to join the teams to watch the game in a fenced-off area just north of our social rooms,” Aitken said.
“We hope it will bring back many memories as we celebrate two outstanding achievements in the history of the RFNC.”