Ashley Watson, a Tigers premiership player in 2008, will take the reins as senior coach, after serving as an assistant for the past three seasons.
As a player, Watson was one of the greatest to don a Rochester jumper, playing more than 200 games, winning five best-and-fairests and a Morrison Medal in 2015.
The Watson name is also synonymous with the Tigers, with father Bruce being a long-time player, coach, selector and secretary and mother Karen being a key off-field volunteer for many years.
An exciting new chapter in his football journey, Watson said it was an honour to take on the top job.
“It is great to be able to take on the senior coaching job at Rochester; my family obviously has a lot of history with the club and I have loved my time as a player and coach with Rochester,” Watson said.
“I have always loved footy and, having retired three years ago, I’ve just been helping out as an assistant since then.
“That time as an assistant has really sparked my love for coaching and to be stepping into the senior role now, I am super excited for the next chapter.”
Watson has worked closely with outgoing coach Steven Stroobants, who stepped aside due to family commitments, for the past three years, which will make this transition a smooth one.
“Stroobs (Stroobants) has been great for me,” Watson said.
“He’s got some experience at the elite level in the VFL and he’s been really great for our club.
“Hopefully I can keep pushing forward from what he has achieved and bring more success to the club.”
Stroobants, who will be playing on at Rochester next season, said he was excited to see what Watson could achieve in the top job.
“The club’s obviously appointed Ash Watson, he’ll be a great asset for the footy club,” Stroobants said.
“He’ll be full-time coach, he’s been my assistant for the past three years and is a super appointment for the footy club.
“I just want to thank them, obviously, for giving me the opportunity to be a senior coach and hopefully it won’t be the last time because at this present time I’m a bit busy with other things outside of footy.
“I’ll still look to play at Rochester next year.”
As for the playing group, Rochester currently finds itself with an abundance of star talent, with the likes of Shaun Atley, Joe Atley, Chris Jansen, Mitch Cricelli and Hugh Hamilton headlining a squad that finished the 2022 Goulburn Valley League home and away season in fourth spot.
Watson said he was excited to help continue to build the list into the future.
“There is a great group of young, local kids at the club that we hope can keep developing; there are still some finals to be played this year and hopefully we can do some damage,” he said.
“But for the future, I can see a lot of potential in our squad and we also have a group of players that are getting towards 30 who have all come through together and are doing a great job as leaders.
“The balance is very exciting and it will be a great playing group to work with.”
And in terms of what style of coaching he is looking to implement on the group, he said it would be all about development and getting the best out of his talented group of players.
“I haven’t looked at the game plan specifically yet, but initially my focus will just be around the development of the talent we’ve got and getting them to play the way that we want to play,” he said.
“I don’t think my style will be too dissimilar to Stroobs to be honest; for me it will just be about getting through the rest of this season, recruiting some players and getting stuck into pre-season.”
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