From the outside, Sunshine Heights’ Western Region Football League campaign looks like a disaster.
The Dragons are locked at the bottom of the division 1 ladder with a 0-14 record for the season.
But internally, the club couldn’t be prouder of the heart its players are displaying.
During a horror off-season, Sunshine Heights lost 29 players from its senior division, with rumours circling that the Dragons may not even be able to field a team come round one.
However, a committed bunch, who just wanted to play for the jumper, stuck around and have been flying the flag ever since.
While there have been some beltings along the way, club president Vince Sposato was full of praise for the commitment shown by his players.
“I really can’t ask for anything more from the playing group,” he said. “Even though we haven’t won a game, and we have been getting belted from pillar to post this year, there are a lot of positives to come out of this season.
“We have worked very hard to keep this team together. We have lost games and we have been thumped in games, but each week they keep turning up.
“From a personal point of view, that has been fantastic.”
Sposato also paid credit to senior coach Robbie Greto, who he said had done an outstanding job under tough circumstances.
Sunshine Heights has already begun planning for next season in an effort to make sure the struggles on the field are short-term only. The Dragons will be relegated to division 3, where they are hoping to go from easy beats to a potential finals side.
“I think going back to division 3, we will get back a lot of players, who were unsure about playing this year,” he said.
“Those players who have left, we are hoping that we can get 10 or 15 of them back playing in division 3.
“Some of them are high-quality players,” Sposato said.
It isn’t just the seniors the Dragons are rebuilding. The club is also working on its junior structure, to create a pathway for youngsters to progress to open age football.
The Dragons had three junior teams and an Auskick program this year, and hope to double the number of participants in 2016.
