Ayres’ 250th Game as Coach Headlines Round 6 Milestones
Despite Port Melbourne being on the road for their second and final interstate trip of season 2021, Saturday’s Round 6 clash with the GWS Giants at Blacktown International Sportspark will mark a historic and record-breaking day for the Club.
Gary Ayres, already in his 14th season as the Borough’s longest-serving coach of all time, will be at the helm for his 250th game.
This remarkable achievement sees him sit fifth on the all-time tally of VFA/VFL games coached, behind only Gerard FitzGerald (345), Bill Faul (313), Brad Gotch (268) and Jim Cleary (264).
After an amazing playing career that yielded five Premierships and two Norm Smith Medals, Ayres had coaching stints at AFL level with Geelong and Adelaide before taking over the reins of the Borough in 2008.
He was swift to change the psyche of the Port Melbourne Football Club, after several doubts were raised about the prospect of standalone organisations ever being able to compete with their AFL-listed counterparts at state league level.
His first year in charge saw the Club play off in the Grand Final against North Ballarat, before a staggering run of top 8 finishes that was only blemished by a 10th-placed finish in an injury-ravaged 2015 season.
His ultimate success came through an undefeated 2011 season that ended in Grand Final glory alongside captain John Baird, and broke a 29-year flag drought for one of Australia’s oldest and proudest sporting clubs.
He then masterminded an amazing underdog victory in 2017 in conjunction with skipper Toby Pinwill when the Borough overcame all sorts of on-field and off-field obstacles to claim what he dubbed “The People’s Premiership” against Richmond.
Baird (2009-2014) and Pinwill (2015-2017) are among five individual names to serve as Ayres’ captain/s during his time, along with Luke Cotchett (2008), Jordan Lisle (2018-2020) and Tom O’Sullivan (2019-2021).
Ayres spoke on RSN’s Breakfast Club radio show this morning, and in typically unselfish fashion was remaining more focussed on claiming a much-needed win for the Club this Saturday.
“It (the milestone) is something that is probably nice to reflect on when you finish”, he said.
“At the moment, we’ve just dropped off a little bit in terms of wins and losses, so to be brutally honest I’m more focussed on us playing better for longer and getting back on track to please those lovely Borough supporters that have supported me all these years.”
Ayres will be sharing his special milestone game with two of the players who also enjoyed Premiership success with him in 2017; Anthony Anastasio and Harvey Hooper.
Anastasio will chalk up his 100th senior VFL game after moving across to Port Melbourne from arch rivals Williamstown at the conclusion of the 2016 season.
A Premiership player with the Seagulls in 2015, ‘Red’ has since become a popular player amongst the Borough fans with his energy, goal sense and blistering pace often lighting up the turf of ETU Stadium.
It’s been a longer-than-expected wait to reach the century milestone for Anastasio, after he ruptured his ACL and missed the entire 2019 season; before then missing another whole season of footy when 2020 was wiped out due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He has booted 34 goals across his 31 games with the Borough, and his expertise, experience and overall regard with which he his held among his peers at VFL level was rubber-stamped with his recent selection in Ayres’ Leadership Group in 2021.
The third milestone to commemorate this weekend will belong to fellow 2017 Premiership player Harvey Hooper.
Hooper is a product of Port Melbourne’s alignment with NAB League Club Oakleigh Chargers, and first played with us in 2016.
He was one of the youngest Borough players to be part of the 2017 Grand Final success at just 19 years of age.
At still only 23, Hooper has fast become one of the premier midfielders of the VFL competition, having been named at half back in the 2019 Team of the Year, and also chosen to serve under O’Sullivan and alongside Anastasio in this year’s Leadership Group.
Hooper has been a shining light among the 1-3 win-loss start to the 2021 year, currently averaging 23 disposals.
The Port Melbourne Football Club would like to congratulate Gary, Anthony and Harvey on these significant achievements, and wish them all the very best of luck for Saturday’s match against the Giants.
Article: Sam Wharton.
Image: Emily Fraser-Ison.
