Last season return: After spending most of the season in the senior team, under-18 captain Darby Wileman played the last three home-and-away games with the Todd Woodfine-coached team and had a major impact on the team’s performance.
Rochester’s eighth-placed finish in the 2023 Goulburn Valley League under-18 season came after the club’s sixth win of the season against Shepparton United at Moon Oval on Saturday.
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The Tigers’ teenagers finished the year with a 35-point win and were just two games outside of the top six by the time the curtain was called on the season.
Coach Todd Woodfine was celebrating Thursday evening’s selection announcement that he would have almost a full complement of his stars in the team for the weekend, as ruckman Lachlan Watson, mid-fielder Adam McPhee (returning from a broken thumb) and James McPhee were all available for senior selection.
A seven-week run to end the under-18 season has filled the club with hope for 2024 as the weekend’s win was preceded by a second-half performance only a week earlier when the team outscored top team Echuca.
The Tigers lost the match by 27 points, but it was a significant improvement on the round two result when Echuca was a 132-point victor.
Prior to that performance the Tigers had won successive matches against Benalla and Euroa, the latter on the back of five goals from Tobie Woodfine.
He finished the year with 47 goals from 15 games and, as a bottom-age player, remains eligible for under-18 competition next season.
Woodfine didn’t play senior football this season, but several of his teammates did appear in the 2pm timeslot.
Among them captain Darby Wileman, who played 12 games and returned to under-18 ranks for the final three home-and-away games to have a strong influence on the late season form.
He played only five games with the Todd Woodfine-coached team for the season.
Hugh Kerlin played two senior games for the Tigers, while playing in 15 under-18 matches.
Rising star: Nate Rasmussen has appeared with the Tigers at senior level for the past two seasons, but still has another year of eligibility in the under-18 competition. His return to the under-age competition was a boost for the team, which won its final game of the season.
Nate Rasmussen only played the last three games of the season with the under-age team, having appeared with the senior Tigers on 15 occasions after debuting in 2022.
He also remains eligible for under-18 football next season.
Ruckman Charlie Palmer made six early-season appearances with the senior team and ended up playing 11 games in the GVL under-age competition.
Reed Hocking (two senior games), finished the year with 13 under-18 games and 15 goals — among his team’s best in nine of those games.
Declan Pearse added 12 senior games to the five he played last season and also made six appearances with the under-18 team.
Saturday’s final round win came after Ray Pearson rounded out a terrific season where he finished in the Tigers best in all but three of his games for 2023.
He also kicked eight goals, supported during the season by Harrison Foster (15 games, nine goals) and Zayne Adams (15 games, 12 goals).
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