Rochester’s Willett one of three to snare rare treble
Rochester and Collingwood ruckman Ray Willett has his name stamped in BFNL history.
He’s one of just three footballers to have won a BFL premiership, the Michelsen Medal and the top goalkicking award for the season all in the one year.
This happened in 1962 when Rochy downed Golden Square by nine points in the grand final, and Ray was on top of the goalkicking table with 72 majors.
So how did Ray Willett end up at Rochester?
He’d been appointed head teacher at the tiny Strathallan school after 20 VFL games with the Collingwood Magpies.
“The day after I was appointed to the Strathallan school Rochy secretary Jack Green came knocking on the door,” Ray remembers.
“He was on my doorstep in suburban Melbourne to sell me the benefits of signing with the Rochester club.
“He was a brilliant secretary and his timing was perfect.
“I was sick of the stinking mud at Victoria Park and when I visited the oval at Rochy it was like a bowling green,” he recalls.
The footy maestro remembers his decision to play at Rochester was very popular with the Strathallan community.
“The eight children and virtually all of their parents were Rochester supporters,” he said.
Ray recalled his time at Collingwood back in the day.
He’d signed with the Magpies straight out of school and amazingly his fourth, fifth and sixth games with Collingwood were all finals, including the 1960 ‘grannie’.
In a low scoring match, the Magpies lost the 1960 grand final to Melbourne, 8.14 (62) to 2.2 (14).
He played just another eight VFL games in 1961 before heading to the bush.
Ray not only played in Rochester’s 1962 premiership-winning team, but backed up the following season when Rochy downed Kyneton: 16.22 to 10.14.
He fondly remembers his ’62 season when he booted 72 goals and inter-changed in the forward pocket with Noel ‘Chooka’ Howe who hammered home 50 majors.
“It was a ‘Pagan’s paddock’ sort of arrangement and well ahead of its time when Pagan ended up coaching North Melbourne,” Ray recalls.
“Noel and I interchanged between the ruck and the key forward post.”
And he made headlines again in 1964 when, back at Collingwood, Ray nailed six goals against Fitzroy in his first game back.
He played just five more games for the Pies under coach Bobby Rose, but the Collingwood legend approached Ray again, this time when he was coaching Wangaratta.
Willett had been one of the BFL’s best in an interleague win in 1963 so, following Bobby’s approach, Ray ended up in another major league: this time the Goulburn Valley.
Ray also won three Morrison medals in the Goulburn Valley Football League to go with his Michelsen.
Later in his career Ray was posted to Rutherglen to teach and because the family lived beside the Murray in Corowa he played for Corowa in the Ovens and Murray F.L.
He’d ride his bicycle to and from Rutherglen for his school duties, but with Corowa he finished runner-up to Bruce Waite (Myrtleford) by one vote in the 1972 OMFL Morris Medal count.
In another interesting little sidelight anecdote Ray Willett tutored current Sydney Swans coach John Longmire in the art of forward play when ‘Horse’ was playing for the Corowa Thirds.
And the final scores in that BFL grand final, 1962: Rochester 9.17 (71) def. G. Square 7.20 (62).
Oh, and before I forget, the other triple honours winners with a flag, a Michelsen Medal and the goalkicking award all tucked away in the one year are Greg Kennedy (Eaglehawk) in 1971 and Strathfieldsaye Storm’s Lachlan Sharp in 2017.
Kennedy drilled 139 goals and Sharpy 142 in their flag-winning seasons.
And of course Rochy played in four, consecutive BFL grand finals (from ’62 on) in the Sixties. Here’s the results of the other three.
1963: Rochester 16.22 def. Kyneton 10.14; 1964: G. Square 10.10 def. Rochy 9.7 and 1965: G. Square 12.19 def. Rochester 11.11.
