A NEW day is dawning on AFL in Moree as the town’s new club has picked its emblem: The Suns.
Brett Petersen (centre) with Tom and Matt Lather, calls on local AFL enthusiasts to turn up to the Moree Suns’ first training session on Thursday.
The team has secured a major sponsor and been officially accepted by the Tamworth AFL into the competition.
They will hold their first training session this Thursday at 6pm at Ron Harborne Oval.
Interim secretary Brett Petersen said it was important for players to get to training early to build on the team’s momentum.
“At this point we’re hoping for 20 seniors and a few kids as well,” he said. “But going forward we’re going to need a lot more in order to field a team week in, week out. We don’t plan on forfeiting games and we want to have a good name within the competition.”
Petersen said although the club had made some positive steps forward, a lot of work still remained to be done.
The Suns will need to secure more funding and are hoping for more sponsorships.
“We need people to come down and sign up this Thursday. Anyone who’s interested in playing who I haven’t heard from, I need them to come down,” he said.
“Also, anyone who is interested in sponsorship is welcome to come down and see what we’re about.”
Last week they were officially welcomed into the competition by Tamworth AFL (TAFL), which announced it would redo the 2015 draw to include the fledgling club.
TAFL secretary, Rene Dasey, said she was hoping all clubs would have the copy of the new draw this week, with expectations the Suns’ first ever match would be a home game.
“The club is coming along in leaps and bounds,” she said. “Head office in Sydney has said they will provide jerseys and goal posts and will help with administration.
“They will need to register players the day before the game, aside from that, as long as they turn up on game day in the right colours, they’re in.”
Moree will join the New England Nomads, Inverell Saints, Tamworth Kangaroos, Narrabri Eagles, Tamworth Swans and the Gunnedah Bulldogs in the seven-team competition.
The 18-round season will still start on Saturday, April 11 and conclude with the grand final on Saturday, September 19.
Following Thursday’s training session, the Suns will elect a permanent committee. One of the first decisions of the committee will be to decide whether to accept an invitation by the New England Nomads to compete in the 2015 Sport UNE Tablelands Cup.
The one-day competition takes place on Saturday, March 28. Entry for a club is $200, with the winners taking home $1000 and runners up $500 in prize money.
Source: Moree Champion