WHEN Stephen Dods arrived from New Zealand four years ago to take up an appointment as coach to Suttonians, thee joke at the club was: "When are they going to send the rest of him?" Now, they smile with affection and wonder how a 6ft 4in applicant could have shrunk to 6ft en route from the southern hemisphere.

By securing the Division Four title of the Insurance Corporation League on Saturday, Dods embellished his status as a giant at the McDowell Memorial Grounds. And now that the job is done, he is returning to his homeland at the end of the season.

Suttonians did what everybody expected them to do, bye whipping Sligo by the second biggest margin of their nine match campaign. Only Armagh, who were crushed by 84-13, suffered a greater defeat as the North Dublin club averaged nearly 40 points per match and built a formidable points difference of plus 257.

When it was all over and the celebratory photographs had been taken, Dods remained on the pitch talking to me while his team mates were cheered into the pavilion. Should he not be joining them? "Plenty of time," he replied. "It's their day, not mine."

The player/coach then spoke, of his pride in giving the club a team that had earned thee respect of their rivals. In their first season in senior ranks they won all their AIL matches by a minimum of 10 points, except for one the thrilling 20-17 victory over Ballynahinch earlier this month.

Fittingly, the Ballynahinch encounter was accorded the highest peak on the club's playing graph, marked in black on the white wall of the dressingroom. There were, of course, nine peaks in all - and Dods completed the job with a line pointing from Saturday's victory towards Division Three.

"After we beat CIYMS in the opening league match last December, the talk started of going all the way," said Dods. "My task was to make that talk a reality. I like to think that we did it the New Zealand way, by enjoying ourselves.

"When I came here, Suttonians were essentially a drinking club with a rugby problem. Now they're a rugby club with a drinking problem. At least that's the way things will be when we set about celebrating tonight."

Sligo president, Damien Heaslip, had no illusion about the challenge facing his players as they attempted to spoil a winning finale for the host club. "We could get the whiff of success when we came into the clubhouse," he said.

Then, self deprecatingly, he added: "The only reason we travelled here by train was that some of our older players qualify for free travel." It was going to be a joyous occasion whether Sligo liked it or not and, sensibly, they entered into the spirit of things.

Meanwhile, Peter Lawless, president of Suttonians, spoke for his club colleagues when he said: "Like all sport, rugby is a wonderful game when you're winning. And for us to gain promotion to Division Three is truly a wonderful achievement, probably the greatest in the history of the club."

With "Fag an Benlach" as their motto, Suttonians wasted no time in forcing Sligo to clear the way. Indeed, any hint off trepidation was removed when, within two minutes of the start, hooker Eamonn McKeon went over for a try from a tap penalty.

From then on, the match took the form of a celebration, particularly for left wing Joe Kennedy whose two tries brought his tally to 12, confirming his status as the top try scorer in the four divisions. And McKeon also had a second try when he won a strike against the head in a five yard scrum before burrowing his way over the line.

Dods and his wife Margaret are going home to New Zealand at the end of May. With them will be their daughter, Molly, "who was born here in November 1995, when the then Suttonians president Brian Fahy and his wife Geraldine became her godparents.

Molly will ensure that the spell at Station Road remains an important part of their lives.