Rovers, Royal Park prepare for MCDFNL swansong before merging

Rovers and Royal Park are merging after this season, and while both will have representation in the finals, most of their teams will be playing for the last time in Saturday's final round of the season.

Both clubs have home games, with Rovers playing Maldon at Jubilee Oval and Royal Park hosting Talbot at Hedges Oval.

The two clubs in April this year agreed to a merger for the 2024 season, with the new club to be known as the Maryborough Giants and be based at Hedges Oval.

Rovers vice-president Mark Raven said the club was expecting a big crowd for Saturday's last hurrah, which will be very much a celebration.

"We've tried to get as many people as we can who have had a connection with Rovers over the years back to the club on Saturday," Raven said.

"We think it will be a big day and a celebration of the club's history.

"There will be a lot of faces coming back to the club and we hope they understand the reasons why we are amalgamating.

"We want to celebrate the club and everyone who has been connected with it. It will be an emotional day for a lot of people."

While there had long been discussions around a potential merger of Maryborough Rovers and Royal Park given the increasing pressure on the town of Maryborough to sustain three senior clubs - there is also the town's Bendigo league club - the decision that now is the time to do it came about relatively quickly earlier this year.

In March the two clubs confirmed they were in discussions to "explore the exciting opportunity to amalgamate from next season".

READ MORE: Royal Park and Maryborough Rovers - foes for one last time

And by the end of April the decision had been made - the two clubs would cease as stand-alone rivals at the end of the season and join together for 2024.

The Maryborough Rovers' vote was 100 per cent in favour of the merger, while at Royal Park the vote in support of the move was around 90 per cent.

"For us we could see that the writing was on the wall... it's becoming a real struggle in terms of volunteers," Raven told the Bendigo Advertiser in June in the lead-up to the two clubs preparing to play each other for the final time.

"Our volunteers have been involved with the club for a long time and eventually they are going to say it's time to do something else.

READ MORE: Outcome on Maryborough Rovers-Royal Park merger discussions for 2024 likely by end of April

"If you don't have volunteers you don't have a club, so that was a big factor for us in the decision, as well as the fact we are short for players in our junior grades at some levels of football and netball.

"And you only have to look at the results of our reserves over the past few years - they haven't been flattering.

"We had to do something about it or else we wouldn't be here at all and I'd rather the club be something rather than nothing."

Royal Park is the oldest of the two amalgamating clubs having been formed in 1934.

The club has won eight senior flags - 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1981 and 1982 - which is the third most behind only Carisbrook (15) and Maldon (9).

Maryborough Rovers joined the MCDFNL in 1966 and has three senior flags - 1978, 1990 and 1991.

The last of those three flags was, ironically, won against Royal Park in 1991 when Rovers prevailed 9.8 (62) to 4.8 (32) in a derby on the biggest of stages.

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