The resurgence at Rockbank continues with the club to field a third open age football side.
The Riddell District Football League side announced last week it had enough players to enter a team into the inaugural AFL Goldfields Club 18 competition.
The Rams are the fifth team in the 16-a-side competition, with their first game on June 3 against the Sunbury Kangaroos.
The other sides are Diggers Rest, Bacchus Marsh and Sunbury Lions.
Rams’ football operations manager Gavin Sporle said it was massive for the club to field a third open age side and shows how far the club has come in the past 12 months.
At the start of the last season the Rams struggled to have enough numbers to field a reserves side and it’s senior side wasn’t competitive.
“It is significant for the club,” Sporle said,
“We are very excited by the amount of growth of the club at senior level.
“We’ve got a surplus of players not playing every week and we want to give them an opportunity to play football with us and not having them look elsewhere to play.”
The club has appointed former player Luke Maumill as coach.
“We’re looking for any players who have been tossing up about playing football, but because of work or other commitments can’t commit to training,” Sporle said.
“While they may not be able to train, this gives them the opportunity to play football every week.”
AFL Goldfields regional general manager Rod Ward is excited by the announcement from the club on the back of low numbers in recent seasons.
“This is great news for the club,” Ward said.
“This is a reflection of the hard work done by some outstanding volunteers at the club, and shows how far the club has come in a short period of time.”
In RDFL results at the weekend, it was a tough day out for the Rams against Diggers Rest in the seniors.
The Burras, coming off a rare loss, showed why they were last year’s premiers, winning 25.19 (169)-7.7 (49).
Matthew Krul and Jamie Lobb kicked four goals each for the Burras, as 14 players hit the scoreboard.
It was all single goalkickers for the Rams, with Harley Cameron named their best.
And for the first time this season, Melton Centrals were completely outplayed, losing to Sunbury Kangaroos 17.16 (118)-7.5 (47).
Players interested in joining Rockbank can attend training on Tuesday or Thursday nights, or call 0481 912 604 or footballoperations@rockbankfsc.com.au
