Bendigo Pioneers teenager Hugh Hamilton was the star, a 28-possession, seven-goal game heavily influencing the 29.15 (189) to 0.3 (3) victory.
Rochester is fifth with two home-and-away games remaining, against eighth and ninth-ranked Shepparton Swans (August 20) and Shepparton (August 27), with a better percentage than fourth-ranked Mooroopna — which has a tough final three matches.
The Tigers’ 10-6 record this season has them ranked ahead of Kyabram (sixth) and Seymour (seventh), who look set to battle it out for the last spot in the finals.
Seymour did its harms of tipping Kyabram out of a finals spot no harm on the weekend when it beat second-ranked Euroa by 11 points.
The teams are locked on nine wins apiece, but the Bombers have a game in hand — due to play second-bottom Benalla this weekend in the second half of the split round.
In the final two rounds Seymour has Tatura and United, almost guaranteed of two wins, while the Bombers have Mansfield and Shepparton Swans.
Rochester will watch on from the sidelines this weekend before warming up for the first Goulburn Valley finals series since 2019 — starting on September 3.
Mooroopna, one game clear of Rochester, has the toughest finish to its season.
It has Mansfield (third) this weekend, then the top two teams in the final home and away rounds of the season.
For the Tigers an elimination final against either Mooroopna seems highly likely, the teams having met only once this season when the Cats were 56-point winners.
Saturday’s win against United was the first time the 12th-ranked Deakin Reserve co-tennant had been kept goalless this season, only able to enter its attacking 50-metre arc on only 22 occasions at Moon Oval.
Hamilton, who has now played five successive games with the Tigers since round 12, kicked three goals in the opening term as Rochester extended a 41-point quarter-time lead to 106 points by half-time.
The twin brother of GWS Giant, Cooper, began the season with Carlton in the VFL and made half a dozen appearances as a 19-year-old with the Bendigo Pioneers before joining the GVL Tigers.
He had kicked three goals in his four matches prior to Saturday’s break out game against United.
Hamilton shared his time between attack and the mid-field, responsible for seven of the Tigers’ 71 inside 50 entries for the afternoon.
So dominant was Hamilton that coach Steve Stroobants took star mid-fielder Christopher Jansen from the ground mid-way through the third term and he spent the entire last quarter on the interchange.
Rochester had seven multiple goalkickers, defender-cum forward Blake Evans following up his three goals from last week with another four majors.
Mitch Cricelli now shares the leading goalkicking mantle after kicking another four goals, he and Stroobants (three) both having kicked 39 for the season.
James McPhee’s four goals was his best return since round three against Tatura, while Jansen kicked two goals before leaving the ground.
In less than three quarters Jansen had 26 touches and six tackles, overshadowed by Shaun Atley (31 possessions and seven clearances) and Jordan Harper (29 disposals).
Atley’s possession count from his nine games this season has been the equal (average-wise) of any player in the competition.
The eldest of the three Atley brothers will be joined by younger brother Joe for the Tigers’ August 20 round-17 match.
Joe, who had 19 touches with Essendon in its 30-point win against GWS Giants on Saturday, will play the final two home-and-away games with Rochester before the finals.
Middle brother, and defender, Jacob Atley took seven intercept marks and had 19 disposals for the afternoon as Rochester dominated the mark count 129-66.
Adam McPhee returned after a month of the sidelines for last week’s win against Tatura. His importance to the team was evidenced by his 26 possessions and seven clearances.
Stroobants and Cricelli took 11 forward 50 marks between them, both firmly in the competition’s top-10 ranked players in the category.
More about the Tigers statistical return from the weekend on Page 15 today.
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