By LIAM TWOMEY
THE year was 2003. The setting, the Western Region Football League grand final.
After a hard-fought season North Sunshine reached the biggest day of the year and squared off against Glen Orden for the right to be called the division two premier.
The Roadrunners proved too good on the day and defeated the Hawks by 33 points to earn promotion into the WRFL’s top echelon of clubs.
North Sunshine stayed in division one for two seasons before being relegated back to division two in 2006.
While on-field success has been hard to come by in the last few years, that didn’t stop the 2003 premiership side from gathering at Dempster Park for the 10-year reunion last week.
“It’s great to be celebrating the 10-year anniversary of that premiership win,” North Sunshine club president Ray Portelli said.
“The year we won it, we strived to get into division one and we got there.
“Like any club that goes into division one, it was very tough. The second year was the toughest.”
The 2013 season has seen a marked improvement from North Sunshine, with the club securing its first win for five years.
The Roadrunners have also lifted their percentage from just 5.15 in 2012 to 23.36 midway through the division two season.
Portelli says he is happy with the improvements the club has shown and hopes to continue the upward spiral in the coming seasons.
“I think it has been a step in the right direction,” he said.
“If you look at it this way, we are fielding two teams every week. We have got the numbers there and our scores compared to last year, when looking at for and against, are better.
“It would be great if we can grab another win or two before the end of the season. The boys are having a dip. We still just haven’t been able to master a full quarter of good football. We just do it in patches.
“In the next couple of weeks we are going to sit down and do a review and look at where we need to improve.”
