THE 1960s were an undisputed golden era in the Ovens and Murray and the 1968 country championships winning team was bristling with talent despite two key omissions in Wodonga champion duo Gary Williamson and Brian Gilcrist.
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Williamson was the reigning Morris medallist, but cruelly missed the Bulldogs’ break-through premiership due to an achilles injury.
Gilcrist is widely regarded as the club’s greatest player and has been inducted into the O and M Hall of Fame with Williamson and the 1968 country championships winning coach, Mick Bone.
Williamson suffered a thigh injury early in the season and was ruled out along with Gilcrist due to work reasons.
But the team still consisted of two former VFL captains in Fitzroy pair Ralph Rogerson and John Hayes, and others with league experience including Bone, Trevor Steer (Collingwood), John Waddington (North Melbourne), Alan Lynch (Fitzroy), Martin Cross (Carlton), Noel Long (Footscray) and Kevin Smith (Richmond).
Long, Smith and Cross are also Hall of Famers and Waddington won the Morris medal in 1968 playing for Benalla.
Neville Hogan and Stan Sargeant are official O and M legends and Jeff Hemphill is also a Hall of Famer.
He was the only Corowa player in the country championships winning team with Lindsay Jacob the emergency.
A reunion luncheon will be held on Sunday before those attending make their way to the Albury Sportsground for the preliminary final between Wangaratta and Wodonga Raiders.
They will be introduced to the crowd at half-time.
