Rob, it could be argued is the greatest cricketer to ever play at the club, with his cricket CV unmatched both at club and representative level. Arriving in Traralgon to commence work at the Traralgon Hospital as a young man he was quickly swept up in the excitement of the reformation of CATS in 1984 through a work colleague. After a scratchy performance in his first hit, he managed to hold his spot only just for Round 2 where he peeled off the first of many centuries for the club.

It was at this stage we discovered we had a previous District cricketer on our hands who had only just recently played the Vic Country XI against the touring West Indies. Our inaugural season finished with a premiership after Rob led the team after we chased down Rovers CC’s 268, nine-wickets down with Cloughy opening the batting and finishing 208 not out. We have no record of the Man of the Match but it is highly likely the dashing young lad from Bendigo, via Melbourne, scored the medal.

Rob’s class and leadership rewarded in subsequent years where he was the TDCA GCL captain while CATS were still only represented by a B and C Grade team. However, like his predecessors before him, Rob’s life membership was awarded for much more than his cabinet full of trophies. Cloughy’s club-first mentality aligned beautifully with the other key leaders of the 1980’s and 90’s, and his positive impact on the lives of his club mates young and old is still highly valued decades later.

In the twilight of his time at the club, before he headed back home to Bendigo, he added a further contribution to the club when he introduced us to his soon-to-be wife Helen. As much as we love Cloughy we probably miss Helen’s Chocolate Ripple Cake more.