At the weekend, against Casey Demons, Atley was again brilliant in the midfield when the Bombers lost by just three points.
He had 28 possessions and laid eight tackles as the Bombers seriously challenged the classy Casey team, which included several AFL Melbourne-listed players.
The middle of the three Atley brothers also had 12 clearances in the round two match and was the highest ranked AFL Fantasy points player with 118.
A week earlier, in a 28-point loss to Geelong, he had 31 touches, five tackles and 14 clearances. He was again the highest ranking Fantasy points player with 107.
Rochester coach Steve Stroobants said Atley had communication with Essendon all along that he was going to play round one with Rochester.
“He has told them from the very start, it was part of his deal was to play with Rochester in round one,” Stroobants said.
The Rochester coach explained the complicated nature of the VFL draw meant that Atley had locked in his return to Rochester prior to the VFL draw even being released.
Stroobants admitted, however, he was uncertain just how often the Tigers would see Atley this season.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few AFL clubs looking at him for the mid-season draft,” he said.
Goalkicker Stroobants said he was looking forward to having a “good seat’’ for the battle between the Rochester and Echuca midfields.
“I would assume they will back their midfield against ours. There are some very good players in there, I might get caught up watching too much,” he said.
With an odd number of teams contesting the VFL competition this season Atley, if not drafted back into the AFL on the back of his current form, is expected to appear in the Goulburn Valley league on three or four occasions.
No matter the result against Echuca this weekend, Rochester will walk away from the opening round with a better understanding of where it sits in the pecking order in the competition.
Most Goulburn Valley football pundits have Echuca ranked alongside Euroa and Seymour as likely contenders for the 2022 title.
Echuca and Rochester played only once in 2021, the Tigers losing by 21 points. This year the clubs play twice in the opening eight rounds of the season.
Following this weekend’s match the Tigers face perennial finalists Kyabram, then have five weeks of facing teams not expected to feature prominently this year — before confronting the Murray Bombers again on Sunday, June 5.
The second meeting with Echuca is one of three Sunday games for Rochester this season as the Sabbath becomes a larger part of the home and away games.
The club has a major early season celebration scheduled for its April 23 match against Tatura, when it will celebrate two premiership teams.
The 1962 senior football team will celebrate 60 years and will be joined by our 1992 side
In 1962 the Tigers were premiers and champions of the Bendigo Football League, while the 1992 version created their own piece of history by winning the Tigers’ first football premiership since rejoining the GV league.
Echuca Football Club was sensationally awarded the 2021 premiership by the governing board — albeit briefly — after ending the severely COVID-impacted home and away season on top of the ladder.
Push back, including by the Echuca club itself, saw the league revoke that decision and call the entire season a non-event.
Only 11 rounds were played last year, Echuca finished with a 9-2 record — matched by Euroa and Seymour — while Rochester was in fifth position with five wins from its 10 matches.
Despite the fact there was no premier, Echuca will enter the 2022 season as a premiership favourite, having maintained its list and added further with the arrival of Sam Reid — along with the return from injury of key position players.
Rochester’s midfield will again be at least the equal of most of the competition’s engine rooms, with former best and fairest winner Doug Wren returning to play alongside Chris Jensen.
Jensen, when not on state league duties with Port Melbourne or injured, played with Rochester last season. He will be full-time with the Tigers in 2022.
Jensen is fully fit for the start of the new Goulburn Valley season, having been injured for most of the 2021 season. He was in good form against Sandhurst in the Tigers’ second pre-season hit-out.
Stroobants said the Tigers had been “unscathed’’ through the pre-season and would be pretty close to full strength for the Echuca game.
