In fact, against Seymour in the second round of the season (when Rochester was beaten by 30 points) the Tigers had the lowest AFL Victoria Player Points System Policy total of any team in the GVL this season — just 23 points (for its 22-player squad).
Three other clubs have come close to this tally, Benalla regularly taking the field with no player over two points in value, while Shepparton Swans and Echuca are regularly under the 30-point mark.
At the other end of the spectrum are Seymour, Mooroopna and Shepparton United.
Seymour has regularly “maxxed out’’ at 42 points (the allowed GVL points total for a team) — including in its one-point loss to Kyabram on Saturday, it’s first defeat of the season.
It has had 42-point teams on three occasions this season, with well-travelled former Western Bulldog Bradley Lynch topping the list with six points.
Michael Hartley, formerly of Essendon, is worth five points, while VFL players Tom O’Sullivan and Nathan Fowler attract four points.
More than half of Mooroopna’s 40-point round-seven total came from five players, including Jackson Trengove (six) and Nathan Drummond (five).
At Shepparton United, two-time NTFL grand final goalkicker Jayden Magro attracts six points and heavily influences its weekly team total.
In its seven matches this season Rochester has never had a team with more points on the park than its opposition.
The closest it came was, surprisingly enough, against reigning premier Echuca.
The Tigers had a 26-point team (thanks to recruit Reid Gordon being a four-point player) and Echuca only two points more at 28 (Sam Reid’s five-point status the only reason the Murray Bombers were at that total).
In round one last year the Tigers had a 40-point team for its match with Echuca, which was its highest tally of the season. In 130 and 99-point wins against Benalla there was up to a 14-point difference between the teams.
Rochester regularly had at least half a dozen three-point-plus players in its ranks last season and rarely took the field with a team totalling less than 35 of its allowed 42 points.
In fact, in the final against Mooroopna the Tigers and the Cats both fielded teams totalling 37 points — the Cats winning on the back of a five-goal performance from its seven-point player Jackson Trengove.
It was a rare occasion to have a seven-point player in an opposition team, Trengove attracting six points because of his recent AFL history and another point for being registered at three different community clubs in the previous two season (Cobram, Southern Mallee Giants, Barooga and Mooroopna).
In 2023 the Tigers had eight three-point-plus players in the form of Christopher Jansen (five), Hugh Hailton (four), Shaun Atley, Jordan and Lachlan Harper, Doug Wren (for the opening round of the season), Mitch Crielli and Izaac Johnstone (all three).
Rochester’s only win, an 11-point victory against Tatura in round three, came in a match where it had nine less points than its opponent. The Bulldogs had a 35-point team, with former Northern Bullant Ethan Penrith accounting for five of those.
HOW THE POINTS WORK
Goulburn Valley leaugue teams are allowed a total of 42 points under the AFL Victoria Player Points System Policy.
This is how points are allocated:
Six-point players have played a minimum of one AFL game in any of the current or previous three seasons.
Five-point players have played a minimum of five senior games of VFL, WAFL or SANFL in any of the current or previous three seasons.
Four-pointers are NAB League players who have played a minimum five NAB League games in any of the current or previous three seasons or played the same at Tasmanian State League level.
Three-pointers are senior community players and transferred junior players who have played in an interstate community league competition including the Northern Territory Football League. A transferred junior is a player who was transferred from an Under-19 (or younger) competition and does not meet one point eligibility.
Two-point players or Development Community Player, is a player who has played more reserves games than senior games in total, over the current and previous three seasons at community football level.
A one-point player is one that has appeared in 40 or more games during a minimum of three seasons at that club or aligned junior club up to and including Under-17 competitions.
The same point application applied to a player who has played a minimum of five games in each of the five consecutive seasons for the club or the aligned junior club and, finally, a player who has not played competitive football in the previous 36 months.
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