Gary Ayres reappointed coach of Port Melbourne
The former Hawthorn great and Geelong and Adelaide coach will reach the 250-game milestone in the VFL next year after being locked in for another year at the Borough.
Victorian Football
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There will be many changes in the VFL in 2021.
Chances are the competition won’t even be called the VFL since it is taking in clubs from NSW and Queensland.
But there will be one reassuring and steady presence: Gary Ayres.
Port Melbourne this morning confirmed that its longest-serving and two-time premiership coach had been reappointed for 2021.
It means he will cross the 250-match milestone next year; only four other coaches have reached that figure in VFA/VFL history.
Ayres is on 245 games, as is his Hawthorn premiership teammate Andy Collins, who has also been reappointed.
The officials devising the fixture for 22 clubs next year should take care to ensure Ayres and Collins, who will always be linked as one of football’s great last lines of defence, can achieve the milestone with a battle between Port and Willy, one of the league’s most fabled rivalries.
Ayres joined Port Melbourne ahead of the 2008 season.
Since then the Borough have missed the finals once.
They vaulted into the grand final in his first year, falling to North Ballarat. It led to speculation Ayres would return to the AFL as an assistant coach, but he signed at Port for another two years.
“Very happy to hang around for a bit longer,’’ Ayres said at the time.
He’d quickly warmed to his players, all part-time footballers often coming up against full-time AFL players.
“No disrespect to anyone else but in 14 years of coaching this has been the most receptive group and I guess the easiest group to coach, just in terms of trying to get better, being self-driven, not putting any restrictions on themselves,’’ he said after the 2008 season.
Since then he’s made many similar remarks about his players.
VFL players come and go but Ayres and Port have always been able to maintain a senior core to show the way, most notably involving John Baird, Chris Cain, Ryan McMahon, Sam Pleming, Sammy Dwyer, Shane Valenti and Toby Pinwill.
Next year it will be Tom O’Sullivan, Jordan Lisle, Mack Rivett, Eli Templeton and Harvey Hooper.
Port CEO Paul Malcolm noted this morning that Ayres was the club’s longest serving coach and “unquestionably one of our most successful’’.
His 245 games have brought 161 wins.
“Gary is also a tremendous club ambassador. A true football identity he is always happy to promote or front the media to talk about our club, our proud history and involvement in the community and of course our on-field successes,’’ Malcolm said.
“With season 2020 wiped out due to Covid it was simply the right thing to do to extend Gary’s contract for the 2021 season.’’
It’s been a busy week for the Borough. Their women’s team has been elevated to the VFLW and the club has struck up a partnership with Richmond, which had pulled out of the women’s state league for financial reasons.
Port is now searching for a VFLW coach.