WITH his side clear premiership favourites and seven-zip a third of the way into the season, Port Melbourne coach Gary Ayres should be the most sought after of the VFL coaches as Samantha Landy reports.
But an ever modest Ayres is not expecting an AFL call up any time soon.
“It’s a long way in the background. It would be like winning Tattslotto,” he said with a chuckle.
That’s not to say the former Geelong and Adelaide coach would reject an offer to go again at the top level.
“It’s a young man’s game, but you can’t argue with the old blokes’ conviction – look at Micky Malthouse,” he said.
“If people out there think you’re doing a good job, they might come and speak to you. We’ll wait and see what happens, but I’m just enjoying coaching these boys now.”
And why wouldn’t he be? The Borough have won seven on the trot, and among their vanquished are Williamstown and the Northern Bullants - both of whom have enjoyed top spot this season. Port have also defeated top four contenders the Casey Scorpions and, most recently, the Bendigo Bombers.
After a slow start Ayres’ boys piled on 15 second half goals to seven to defeat the Bendigo Bombers by 42 points at Windy Hill on Sunday. Patrick Rose starred once again with six goals to consolidate himself as leading VFL goal kicker, and was supported by Dean Galea and Corey McGrath with three majors apiece. Malcolm Lynch dominated with flair all over the ground, Marc Johnson was brave in defence, and Adam Bentick and Sam Pleming were solid contributors as always. The loss of brilliant midfielders Shane Valenti and Nathan Batsanis through injury was barely noticed by the Borough once they kicked into gear.
The Port Melbourne coach was pleased with the way his side fought back after a dominant start from the Bombers, deeming the victory a “good win” in tough, windy conditions.
“We probably allowed them to control the game in that first half. Once we were able to get the game back on our terms with the way we played in the second half. What did we kick? 14 goals or something like that?
“That’s the sort of powerful footy we can play,” he said.
This ability to play ‘powerfully’ is undoubtedly the product of the Boroughs’ players blooming confidence, which Ayres attributes to his sides “hard work” and their belief in “structures”, in “one another” and in “the direction of the group.”
He also recognises that the importance of winning the big games, which Port Melbourne have done many a time this season, for his side’s self-assurance.
“[The ability to win tough games] is something you’ve got to keep working at because it’s a hard thing to create and have and hold, and keep, whereas you can quite easily lose it.”
This proves Ayres is certainly not getting ahead of himself, and he is adamant he will not let his players get too confident or too complacent with their current top standing.
“What you’ve gotta guard against is that you don’t get overconfident,” he said.
“Every week you’re going to have the opposition doing more research, doing more planning; trying to bring us down. So we’ve just got to make sure our fundamentals are always in use and then we can plan and work even harder to stay hopefully where we are.”
The Port Melbourne coach also knows not to take for granted his side’s outstanding seven-zip record so far this season and the hunger for that “winning feeling” it generates, as this type of ascendency is scarce in the club’s recent history.
“Four years ago this club only won about seven and a half games, before that they only won three,” he said. “So far [the players are] proving that they want to make up for lost time with how hungry they need to be.”
Ayres largely attributes this hunger to the imposing depth boasted by his club, which ensures the senior players are always under pressure to perform or risk losing their spot.
“The pressure that’s underneath [the seniors] at the minute with our reserves, like [Stephen] Brewer, [David] Fanning and [Tristan] Francis playing in the twos; and Josh Schiopone’s playing in the twos. So there’s a lot of heat. And if you forget your place you’ll find yourself back in the twos.”
Port Melbourne’s talented reserves side is also a strong contender in the 2011 season, sitting fourth on the ladder after eight rounds.
Knowing that he has a crop of young players to turn to gives the practical Ayres confidence for the remainder of the season, as he is under no illusions that anything can happen to derail even the most solid of sides.
“Last week I said we don’t win premierships in May, you don’t win ‘em in June, you don’t win ‘em in July, you don’t win ‘em in August,” he said.
“But who would think a week ago of a thunderbolt out of the blue with [injuries to] Batsanis and Valenti. That’s how quickly you can come undone.
“But they’re a very level headed, resilient group. Whether it’s [Mitch] Woods that comes in for Batsanis, he does his job. So that’s what we’ve got create; that you can’t drop away.”
It doesn’t look like Port Melbourne will be dropping away this season, but they might struggle next year if AFL scouts catch on to the Boroughs impending success. Ayres certainly wouldn’t begrudge his players a chance in the big leagues.
“Well we always want that,” he said. “It’s a bit of a shame really; I thought [Callum] Sinclair should have got picked up last year.
“But we’re not recruiters, obviously. All we can do is put our team out and prepare it as well as we can. These guys are just really professional and they really are a credit to themselves; the traits and characteristics of these kids; the improvement has been quite significant.”
Last Modified on 25/05/2011 22:02