How the passion still burns for Warragul coach Gary Ayres

IT WOULD be hard to find a more decorated, more dedicated Australian football contributor than 1999 AFL Hall of Fame inductee, five-time AFL premiership player, two-time Norm Smith Medalist and two-time AFL senior coach, Gary Ayres.

Even after more than 800 AFL/VFL games as player and coach, the passion still burns.

And the fact that he has already made a difference to his hometown club of Warragul, two rounds into the new season, was there for all to see at the football in Wonthaggi on Saturday as the Gulls rattled home for a stirring win.

Opposed to one of his most talented and reliable soldiers at Port Melbourne, during his record tenure there as coach, Ayres wasted no time after the game getting across to Wonthaggi coach, Tristan Francis, to commiserate, but also to congratulate.

Ayres’ impact, not only in preparing the players for the season and his knowhow on game day can’t be over-estimated in the team’s come-from-behind win on Saturday, nor his inspiring address at three quarter time.

He favoured the Sentinel-Times with an interview after the game.

• Question: It was a big finish here at Wonthaggi today, how do you think you turned it around after half time?

“Well, I thought it was as much about how well Wonthaggi played as what we were doing and the pressure that they created. I don't think we played accordingly, to match their pressure at that particular time. And I think our ball use was often scrambled, and it had no real method to it at all, I don't think. And probably the breeze in that first quarter was quite strong, and I thought we defended reasonably okay for the first half of that first quarter, but they got on top around stoppage, which is clearly pretty important.

“I thought their skill was really, really good. And we just, I think anyway, were very reactive and not proactive.

“So, I think in the second half, we just played a little bit smarter. We handled the pressure better. We actually got the way we want to move the ball, going to a degree, and I thought we had a lot of momentum in that third quarter.

“And then in the last quarter, we just played with what I thought was a really composed, controlled amount of speed on the ball, and we just got repeat entries, and were eventually able to get our nose in front when it mattered the most.”

• Question: I thought your big fella in the ruck, Whibley, came into it in the last quarter.

“You're right. He was tremendous. So, I thought him, taking probably control, and that obviously helped our mids. But I thought our captains too stood up in Tommy Stern and Tommy Hobbs in the second half. I also thought Rhys Galvin across half back was absolutely excellent today.

“I thought he controlled that half back line, he gave us a lot of drive, and we were able to probably defend and turn the ball over a bit higher, so that got us those repeat entries, and it ended up becoming a bit of a front half game.”

Ayres said he was pleased with the team’s start to the season, winning the first one at home and getting up against “a pretty hot Wonthaggi” away, and was putting no upper limit on what was possible in 2026.

• Question: And just a final one, I saw you get across to Tristan Francis at the end there. So that was a nice moment.

“Yeah, I love him as a guy. He went to war for me when I was coach at Port Melbourne. And he's just a universally loved guy by everyone at Port Melbourne and other people, clearly. But no, I said to him, he coached really well today.”