Port Melbourne News

From the Port Phillip Leader and www.localfooty.com.au
Reported by Paul Amy
Full article - Click here

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.

From the Port Phillip Leader
Reported by Paul Amy
Full article - Click here

A NEW VFL season and a fresh young hope for Port Melbourne.

Blake Pearson popped up for three senior appearances for the Borough last year after being recruited from the Dandenong Stingrays.

After one, teammate Hugh Sandilands gave him a prank phone call, pretending to be a pressman and mixing questions with put-downs. It was a classic stitch-up.

On Saturday Pearson, a stocky but pacy 174cm right-footer, stitched up the Northern Blues for four goals to help Port to a 23-point victory at a cold and wet North Port Oval.

Two of his goals came in the final quarter, which the Borough had started only two points to the good.

In tough conditions they slowly got on top of the Blues, a touch stronger, a tad cleaner and steadier for the experience of captain Chris Cain, Nathan Batsanis, Hugh Sandilands and key defenders Will Johnson and Dan Noonan.

From the Herald Sun
Reported by Paul Amy
Full article - Click here

THE 2015 VFL season kicks off on Friday with Werribee hosting Geelong under lights. Leader sports editor Paul Amy rounds up each club’s ins and outs.

BOX HILL HAWKS

Coach: Marco Bello

Last year: runner-up to Footscray Bulldogs

In: Cadeyn Williams (Richmond), Jack Sandric (Hobart City), Lochie Adey, James Handley (Blackburn), Matthew Burt, Chris Jones, Liam Kidd, Matthew Traynor (Eastern Ranges), Billy Murphy, Sam Switkowski (Northern Knights), James Sullivan (Tatura), Patrick Dillon (Donvale), Xavier Dimasi (Assumption/Calder Cannons), Ben Fitzpatrick (Korumburra/Bena), Dalton Graham (Sandringham).

Out: Luke Andrews, Callan Burns, Corey Cassidy, Sam Cust, Jackson Eade, Tom Goodwin, Jake Kalanj, Tom Miles, Xavier Murphy, Matt Northe, Nick Papadopoulos, Kalem Post, Michael Thompson, Brandon Wood.

The verdict: the Hawks have lost top-line midfielders in Xavier Murphy and Luke Andrew as well as the emerging Brandon Wood. But they’ve picked up former Tiger Cadeyn Williams and have good young players coming through in support of senior men Sam Iles, David Mirra, Marc Lock and Liam Tobin. Premiers in 2013 and runners-up last year, there’s no reason to think there will be a slackening of standards.

Player watch: Mitch O’Donnell. He’s as hard as a coffin nail and he’ll be granted more opportunity after an excellent pre-season.

Celebrating season 2014 with the Casey Scorpions and A Positive Move

Click on read more for a full club by club report.

From Leader Community Newspapers
Reported by Paul Amy
Full article - Click here

THE milestone comes this Saturday at Punt Rd, against Richmond.

That Port Melbourne captain John Baird played on the famous old ground before its reappearance on this year’s fixtures is an indication of his seasoned status in Victorian football.

It was for Hawthorn reserves against Melbourne in 1999. He can remember a carrot-topped left-footer topping up numbers for the Hawks: Cameron Ling, later to captain Geelong to a premiership.

Sixteen seasons later, Baird returns to Punt Rd this Saturday to play his 200th VFL match.

The right-footer says it “feels a very long time ago’’ that he wore No 42 for the Hawks in his first year out of school.

In fact, he’s been playing in the VFL since it expanded to take in the reserves in 2000. He’s seen a series of alignment changes and teams come and go (Murray Kangaroos, Tasmania and, soon, Bendigo).

John Baird flying high for Box Hill Hawks against Williamstown in 2001.
John Baird flying high for Box Hill Hawks against Williamstown in 2001.

Baird was with Hawthorn for two years. In 2001 he played at the Box Hill Hawks and won the Norm Goss Medal as best-afield in a premiership team containing Sam Mitchell and Chance Bateman.

Fabulous Fred‭ ‬- The Strife and Times‭ ‬of Fred Cook
Written by Paul Amy - Foreword by Sam Newman
Pre-order Now - http://www.melbournebooks.com.au/fabulous-fred.html

FREE postage within Australia for orders placed before 1st August

Fred Cook began his football career with Footscray in the VFL. But he really made his name in the game after crossing to Port Melbourne in the VFA.

His prodigious goalkicking in the 1970s earned him the nickname ‘Fabulous Fred’ and fame at a pop-star level. He appeared on TV, on radio and wrote newspaper columns, and he mixed with Melbourne’s sporting and entertainment elite.

But he fell in with a criminal crowd, formed a drug habit, lost everything and did three spells in prison.

Cook has led a remarkable life, going from hero to zero. He’s always wanted to tell his story, which features football, crime and drugs, and the wider issue of sportspeople who struggle with normalcy once their careers have ended.

Fred Cook’s name still resonates, thirty years after his career ended. Last year he was nominated for the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

From The Age
Reported by Samantha Lane
Full article - Click here

Making history as a woman in football, Peta Searle has been recruited by St Kilda as a development coach.

It is the highest a female has climbed in AFL coaching ranks and comes after Searle, the trailblazer who was the first woman appointed to a VFL assistant coaching job, walked away from the post at second-tier level this season feeling disillusioned by the lack of opportunities to progress.

“I’ve been lost for words. Probably a little bit overwhelmed,” Searle told Fairfax Media, confirming her breakthrough with the Saints.
“I think it’s a bit like when you’re coaching or playing and you win a grand final - you feel a big sense of relief.
“For this situation to have turned around - it’s happening and it’s real – I’ve gone from being grumpy Pete to you can’t wipe the smile off my face.”

Media roundup of coverage of Sam Pleming reaching 200 VFL games.

From the Port Phillip Leader
Reported by Paul Amy
Full article - Click here

IT’S as if his name is rusted to the Port Melbourne results.

In the past few years, more often than not S Pleming has featured in the Borough best.

When Sam Pleming played his 150th senior VFL game a couple of years ago, Port board man Les Quarrell reckoned the defender they call “Plum’’ had been in the list of best players at least 100 times.

Year-by-year results on the VFL website go back only to 2010, but they suggest Quarrell was close to the mark.

In 2010 Pleming has 13 mentions in the top six players. In 2011 he had 10 mentions. In 2012 it was 12. Last year he got up to 15.

The numbers bear out Pleming’s consistency. He has been a remarkably productive player for Port since joining it in 2006 after spending 2004 and ’05 on Carlton’s rookie list.

The sight of him taking intercepting marks across the half back line and turning defence into attack with canny disposal has been a staple of Port games for close to a decade. He reads the game as if it’s an alphabet book for kinder kids.

Durability is another asset: he’s missed only three matches in nine seasons, two with a finger he cut at work in 2008 and one with a rolled ankle in 2010.

Honours have piled up around Pleming: Port’s 2011 premiership, state jumpers in 2012-13, best and fairests in 2010-11, team of-the-year selections from 2010-13 and VFL life membership.

Port Melbourne have also released a highlights video capturing some of the Plemings TV highlights.

From the Herald-Sun
Reported by Paul Amy
Full article - Click here

PORT Melbourne has been numbed by the death of recruit and former West Coast Eagles rookie Michael Mascoulis.

The 20-year-old died in a car accident on Friday.

Coming out of the Northern Knights, Mascoulis spent 2012 on the Eagles' rookie list and played with West Perth this year.

Returning to Victoria, he signed at Port Melbourne three weeks ago.

"I got told at 11 this morning," Borough coach Gary Ayres said on Saturday.

"You just freeze. We saw him at training on Friday night, full of beans and energy and high hopes, and the following day we're told he's no longer with us.

"It's a terrible tragedy. He was a lovely kid coming back here to make a bright and brand new start and was keen to do well.

"You heart goes out to his family and his friends."

Former teammates and friends took to social media in an outpouring of grief to pay tribute to Mascoulis.