From Port Phillip Leader
Reported by Paul Amy
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THIRTY minutes after Port Melbourne's momentous premiership victory over Williamstown, coach Gary Ayres made the point that his team would never play together again.
There would be retirements, players would move on and others might be drafted, he said.
Ayres' first day back at the club yesterday confirmed his post-grand final comments.
He took a phone call from star small forward Patrick Rose, who said he would be stepping away from the VFL.
He is being linked with Wodonga Raiders, who have already recruited his former Williamstown teammates Ben Davies and David Stretton.
Rose was an integral component of Port Melbourne's undefeated season, kicking five goals in the decider and 79 in 21 matches.
It was enough for him to receive the Frosty Miller Medal as the league's leading goalkicker, selection in the VFL team of the year and a place in the hearts of Boroughs supporters who had been starved of premiership success since 1982.
Ayres said Rose indicated a few weeks ago that he was ``thinking about things''.
"He rang me yesterday afternoon and he's coming in for a chat on Wednesday," Ayres said this morning.
"But he basically said he wasn't going to be playing here next year. He said it wasn't football-related, more about work, that he was going to do a building degree.
"He said when he first walked in the door that all he wanted to do was play in a premiership and he's done that and now it's time to do something else."
He said he suspected other Port Melbourne premiership players would be weighing up their futures.
"There'll be others in the same boat as him (Rose). They'll think about much more can they do (in the VFL). When you win premierships you get offers and they'll have to work out if they want to stay at this high level or go elsewhere. I guess that's what I've got to confront with a few of these boys."
Ayres said he had heard rumours ruckman David Fanning had gone to the Essendon District league but had not spoken to him.
Respected assistant coach John Edgar has stood down for family reasons.
