Wyndham Suns produced an eye-catching first season in the Western Region Football League division 3 last year.
They made a preliminary final in the seniors and showed their depth with a reserves premiership.
And on an historic day on Saturday, in front of their home fans, the Suns had the thrill of unfurling their first-ever senior section flag.
Suns president Graeme Clark told Star Weekly his club had far exceeded the expectations set out in its inaugural year of senior football and would be looking to build on that in 2016.
“We had a goal of being competitive and winning four or five games last year,” he said. “To finish with the seniors in a preliminary final and the reserves winning a flag by far exceeded our expectations.”
Local football is a fast-moving environment and the Suns had to recruit well in the off season to keep with the top division 3 sides.
Clark is confident that with the club’s summer signings, retention of key players from last year’s team and the natural progression of the established youngsters the Suns can avoid the second-year blues.
A word of caution though, it could take time for the side to really hit its straps.
“We’ve brought in quite a few new players this year and are still trying to get them to gel,” Clark said.
“You’ve got to get them to play our game style and get used to the guys they’ve got around them, so we’re probably three or four weeks behind where we want to be.
“We hope to win a couple of games early, get our confidence up and build from there.”
The Suns, with second-year coach Matthew Stoodley at the helm, identified their forward line as in need of a revamp.
They have gone from being over-reliant on one or two key forwards to a more unpredictable multi-pronged attack.
New recruit John Zangari is the new spearhead, with Dean Cachia, Corey Thomas, Jarron Kilner and Ash Gallina playing significant roles.
“Our forward line is quite solid now,” Clark said. “Instead of being so reliant on one person, ‘Tykes’ [Brendan Tyquin] last year, we can rotate it around a bit.”
The Suns are excited by the acquisitions of onballer-half forward Rohan Hearn and ruckman Daniel Pinney.
Young midfielders Hayden Iannacone and Josh Stevens should go up another level this season, while Jesse Stiles will be like a new recruit after injury cut short his 2015 season.
