By Joe McConnell
Situated 166 kilometres west of Toowoomba and with a population of roughly 5500 people, you wouldn’t expect the town of Chinchilla to be a hotbed for AFL.
In the club’s inaugural season last year, the Chinchilla Sun’s men’s side finished with just one win in the Allied Pickford’s Cup competition.
Despite the lack of on the field success, it wasn’t due to an absence of hard work and a long list of dedicated volunteering staff.
Now in their second season as a club, the hard work is beginning to show on the field.
Playing in division two this year, the men’s side have already tripled their previous season’s win total, compiling a 3-1 record.
Suns head coach Scott Hannon said the entire club is thrilled by the fast start that the team has had to begin the season.
“The entire club in general, as well as the players are stoked,” Hannon said.
“It’s a real credit to the club for putting forward such a competitive team,” he said.
“We’ve had to earn all of our wins and we’ve had no real easy wins. Which is good, because it shows the team is fighting hard.”
The Suns currently sit second on the ladder and a mere two points behind the undefeated University Cougars.
Chinchilla club president Jay Paget said that it hasn’t been an easy task, but he is pleased with the growth and progression of the Chinchilla Suns organisation.
“It’s been a pretty hard road to get where we are,” Mr Paget said.
“But we feel the club is heading in the right direction and will continue to expand,” he said.
A large reason for the men’s success can be credited to Cameron Percival, who is the fourth leading goal kicker in the competition with six to his name.
Coach Hannon recognises that Percival has put Chinchilla in a position to win on numerous occasions.
“Cameron has been an absolute standout for us,” Hannon said,
“He has been extremely consistent and played very well this far into the year,” he said.
This weekend Chinchilla will look to continue to build upon their early season success, as the squad travels to Warwick to face a winless Redbacks side.
Though the Suns will head into the match as heavy favourites, Chinchilla has struggled away from their home grounds over their past two seasons.
The team has lost eleven straight games when listed as the away team, en route to being dubbed with ‘the away from home curse’.
With a chance to officially break the infamous streak, the Suns will prepare to come out strong against a Warwick side that will be hungry for its first victory.
Coach Hannon knows that his team can’t afford to view this game as an easy win and must play as if they were the underdogs.
“We’re doing very well, probably better than we originally had imagined before the season. And the best part is, we’re still improving,” Hannon said.
“But we are not going to go into the Warwick game too cocky. We are going to play our own game just as we have all season,” he said.
But despite the modest take, the team has high aspirations for the rest of the year.
“You can’t help but think of the finals with how we’ve been playing and where we sit on the ladder,” Hannon said.
The Chinchilla Suns will face the Warwick Redbacks Sunday May 4 at 11:30am on Reddies Oval.
Last Modified on 02/05/2014 11:57
