WHEN Gary Ayres had his first interview at Port Melbourne, its then president Peter Saultry told him the club was looking for a 10-year coach.
The former Hawthorn champion did not imagine he would be at the Borough for that long.
Coaching positions are about as secure as a tent in a tornado, as Ayres found at Adelaide. Besides, he thought there might be other roles for him in the AFL.
But here he is in his eighth season in charge of Port and preparing for his 150th match as comfortably the club’s longest serving coach.
The milestone, against Williamstown at Port Gellibrand on Sunday, coincides with his champion midfielder Chris Cain’s 150th senior game.
“That makes it more special, to share it with ‘Caino’,’’ he said.
Whenever Ayres talks about his longevity at Port Melbourne, he talks about his players.
He is “amazed’’ at the sacrifices they make as part-time footballers to match it with full-time AFL opponents. As a senior coach at Geelong and Adelaide and an assistant at Essendon, he well knows the professionalism of the players his Boroughs seek to best.
“That challenge presents itself every week, every month, every year, and I just marvel at the effort these guys make, the commitment they show, for this football club,’’ Ayres said.
“They just roll their sleeves up and get on with it, no bells and whistles. They’re a wonderful group of people and they make Port Melbourne Football Club a very special place.
“We often talk about the fact we’re not an excuse football club and we understand the parameters we work within. But by geez we have some non-negotiables and trademarks … competitiveness, especially the way you play at home …’’
In his first season at Port, 2008, people told him a stand-alone club would never win a VFL premiership. That year the Borough made the grand final, only to be beaten by a North Ballarat team with a sprinkling of North Melbourne players.
But in 2011 Port Melbourne went through the season undefeated. Ayres calls it a “monumental achievement’’ and a “modern-day miracle’’.
He marvels at the timing of it. In 2010 he almost left after talks with Brisbane about becoming Michael Voss’s right-hand man. But the deal eventually fell through.
The next season was the Borough’s most successful in their 140-plus years in the VFA/VFL.
Those 21 unbeaten games across 2011 are included in a coaching record of 108 victories, 40 losses and one draw. You don’t need a calculator to work out it’s a decent winning percentage.
Under Ayres’s stewardship, Port has reached three grand finals, had five top-four finishes and made the finals for seven consecutive years, finishing no lower than sixth.
Of those 40 defeats, only 11 have been at home. For visiting teams, the North Port Oval has been more a citadel than an oval.
Former captain John Baird said Ayres had been “the single biggest influence’’ on Port’s success.
“When reflecting on him as a coach I believe his greatest strength is that he is never satisfied with past performance and he continually demands improvement and perfection of all his players and coaches,’’ Baird said.
The superbly skilled Chris Cain boots the Borough forward in a final last year. Picture: Chris Eastman
“I think this mantra is reflected in the consistently high standards of the Port Melbourne teams during his reign as coach. More than just that though, Ayresy’, with his sense of humour, fairness and care for all, played a major role in building a culture in our club that people wanted to be a part of and were always reluctant to leave.’’
If media people wanted to ask him about the Borough phase of a glittering four decades in football, Ayres would doubtless make himself available for a chat.
Whether going on radio or TV news or speaking to the newspapers, he’s been as accessible as a book at a library. Honestly, the league should sling him a few bob for all the PR he procures it. Former Port captain John Baird believes his old coach has played a “significant role in keeping the VFL relevant’’.
As for Cain, Ayres is often asked to compare him with Sam Dwyer, his 2011 premiership player drafted by Collingwood.
He’s always been reluctant to split them. Indeed, when asked to name the best five players he’d seen at the Borough, he put them equal fourth, behind Baird, Sam Pleming and Toby Pinwill, and slightly ahead of Shane Valenti.
Cain joined Port Melbourne from the Oakleigh Chargers for the 2006 season.
Like Dwyer, he thrived when Ayres arrived, going on a best and fairest (2013), VFL team-of-the-year jumpers and a Frank Johnson Medal as Victoria’s best in the 2013 state game against WA.
It prompted talk he would be a mature-age AFL recruit. Unlike Dwyer, he was never drafted.
“He’s a bit of a one-of-a-kind with his class and his style,’’ Ayres said of the 29-year-old.
“The way he prepares himself, the professionalism, the way he’s changed his role from a half forward to one of the premier midfielders in the competition, he’s such a wonderful player.
“But I don’t think a lot of people understand how courageous he is. He’s had to play with injuries and play with pain, at a level I’ve seen right up there with some of the champs of the game.’’
