Sunshine Football Club has a long history of having the right people on board, as an expanding list of 300-game players illustrates.
This season the club has already celebrated two more impressive milestones.
Gun ruckman Tom Millar broke the club’s senior games record last month and at the weekend Cory Connor played his 300th game. They speak with Liam Twomey.
Tom Millar has always had a pretty simple answer for any local football side looking to recruit him.
“I’ve always just told people, I’m a Sunshine player,” he says. “That’s the only club I play for. I just do it because I love it.”
Millar is an example of striking gold at the recruiting table.
Having moved to Melbourne from Swan Hill as a teenager, he was playing cricket for Maribyrnong then was convinced to have a run around with Sunshine in the Western Region Football League.
From that moment, he was a Kangaroo for life. The 34-year-old is a two-time best and fairest winner, team of the decade member, interleague representative, and has been one of the WRFL’s premier ruckmen.
Earlier this season, Millar set a benchmark that may never be topped.
When he ran on to the field against Sunshine’s arch-rival, Albion, he broke the Kangaroos’ record for most senior games in the club’s 74-year history.
Millar’s 223rd senior appearances edged out the tally set by club great Ray Kavanagh in 1983.
Running out side by side with Millar for many of those games has been Cory Connor. The gun small forward has had a special connection with the club since bursting out of the juniors. His father and uncle both played with Sunshine and were presidents at the Kangaroos.
And Connor’s brother, Brad, is a 400-game player for Sunshine.
Family club
Connor and Millar share the view that Sunshine is more like a family than a football club.
“I was basically born into the club,” Connor says. “I’ve played since I was in the under-10s … that was back in 1996.
“There are so many great families involved with the club. The feeling around the place is so welcoming.
“It has kept me coming back. I’ve got friends from other clubs to come over and play with us and they’re still there today. It’s just such a great place to be.”
Connor added his name to the list of Sunshine greats at the weekend when he played his 300th game for the club.
His teammates ensured it would be a day to remember, with Sunshine knocking off St Albans in both the reserves and senior competitions and the man of the moment celebrating with four goals.
Like Millar, Connor has had plenty of highlights across his career.
He made his senior debut while still eligible for the under-18s and has played in some of the club’s most famous home-and-away and finals victories.
Connor is also a team of the decade member and once kicked 14 goals in a single game – against Albion in 2013.
He said breaking the 300-game mark was extremely special.
“I feel very honoured to have played that many games for this club,” he says. “Because so many players go to different clubs, when I tell people I’ve played 300 games they will always ask, ‘Is that for the one club?’ – and I’m proud to be able to say, ‘yes’.
“I like being a one-club player … I couldn’t see myself being anywhere else. Some of these guys I’ve played with since the under-10s. The mateship is a huge one for me.”
300 Club
Connor is the 16th member of the Sunshine 300-game club. The Kangaroos have nine players who have played more than 350 games and two who have broken the 400-game mark.
Under second-year coach Brendan Hallinan, Sunshine is enjoying a division 1 resurgence.
At the halfway mark of the 2016 season, the Kangaroos hold an 8-4 record and have claimed many big scalps along the way.
Millar says nothing will ever top the feeling of celebrating a big win with some of his best mates.
“We haven’t won the flag or anything like that, but you can never beat a good win – having all your mates in there and celebrating with them,” he says. “For me, the football isn’t really the highlight.
“It’s about being involved in the club and the people there, and all the friends I’ve been able to make along the way … that means more than anything.”
Millar will weigh up at the end of the season whether he will go around again for the Kangaroos in 2017.
Fresh off celebrating 300 games, Connor has his brother’s mark of 400 in his sights.
While injuries may have an impact on that ambition, the 29-year-old plans to “keep playing until I can’t go any more”.
