IT’S ironic that it was Collingwood that was the first team of the season to beat the reigning premier Geelong by 13-points at Victoria Park on Saturday. It was only last year that the Pies also broke Port Melbourne’s famous winning streak that included its 2011 flag. But perhaps almost more ironic is the general

IN mild conditions at Preston City Oval on Sunday, Port Melbourne outgunned a gallant Northern Blues outfit to take a 16 point win. The Borough had a ripping start, kicking six goals to the Blues’ two, to take a 26 point buffer into quarter time. It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Port, with key forward

THE Northern Blues felt that the 16-point loss to Port Melbourne at home on Sunday was one that got away. Mid-way through the term they had sprung to a two goal lead after a second quarter comeback. But under pressure and knowing another game was starting to get out of their control, Port’s seasoned players

IT’S hard to put a finger on who is a flag favourite after three rounds given the topsy-turvy form of some teams but reigning premier Geelong would be the closest thing to it at the minute

A WEEK is a long time in football may be a well worn cliché but it aptly describes the change in fortunes between Round’s 1 and 2 for the Frankston Dolphins. Bullish about their 2013 season prospects, Frankston were blown away by the Casey Scorpions in the season opener. The Dolphins lacked cohesion, looked slow

IT is no surprise to see reigning premier Geelong undefeated and sitting in third spot behind the Northern Blues and Casey Scorpions, but what has happened to the other grand finallist, Port Melbourne

PORT Melbourne warriors Toby Pinwill and Shane Valenti will miss the next four to six weeks with calf injuries in what is described as a challenge for the Borough to overcome. The Borough face Box Hill, Frankston, Sandringham and the Northern Blues over the next month and going by their performance against Werribee on the

AN 11-goal haul from Werribee spearhead Ben Warren and the unexpected 72-point thrashing handed out to Port Melbourne headline the first week of VFL football. Werribee’s crisp ball movement and skill level all over the ground stunned the Borough. How much should be read into the result given its Round 1 is debatable, but the

PORT Melbourne coach Gary Ayres believes the VFL is set for a bumper 2013 season with more elite players and more premiership contenders. “The competition looks like it’s recruited a lot of really good ex-AFL players. All clubs seem to be quite aggressive in their recruiting and it obviously means it’s going to be harder

Port Melbourne Coach: Gary Ayres Key Player Arrivals: Nathan Batsanis (Norwood), Luke Rounds (Collingwood), Matt Fieldsend (Casey), Danny Hughes (Box Hill) Key Player Departures: Sam Dwyer (Collingwood, AFL), Stephen Brewer (Greenvale), Adam Bentick (St Bernard’s), Tim Allen (Collingwood) Last Year’s Finish: 2nd on the ladder and Runners-up This year’s prediction: 3rd And why?: A gigantic

PORT Melbourne coach Gary Ayres says the club is in a better position than it was this time last year as the grand finalists look to improve to go one step further in 2013. Speaking on the recently launched Borough TV, Ayres admitted there was a “lot of issues” after the clubs’ breakthrough premiership win

WE’VE been tracking VFL player movements since the end of the 2012 campaign and now BRENT DIAMOND analyses the big winners in the recruiting stakes so far this off-season

FOR some, moving to another state league to prove their talent works wonders for their careers. For Callum Sinclair, it has provided another string to his bow to play a dominant attacking ruck role for Subiaco in the WAFL. The former Port Melbourne player was always a draft prospect at the Borough but wasn’t able

THE prize money for the Foxtel Cup has been increased to $100,000 to help attract the top-line clubs from each state league. Next season both of the top teams, Norwood and West Adelaide, from the SANFL will play in the competition in contrast to this year where several SANFL teams declined to play. AFL general

COLLINGWOOD is interested in Port Melbourne premiership midfielder Sam Dwyer, who has been continually overlooked in recent AFL drafts. Dwyer, who played the VFL grand final loss to Geelong with a fractured leg that wasn’t fully healed, has been on the radar for AFL recruiters for some time and the Warrnambool product is perhaps gearing

IN 2013, only 10 teams will participate in the Foxtel Cup, an AFL initiative which is a state league based competition involving the best teams of the previous season. The Foxtel Cup will be telecast on Fox Sports live on Thursday nights during the season.   Those teams are: VFL Port Melbourne, Werribee SANFL Norwood,

PORT Melbourne coach Gary Ayres says the club needs to bolster its ruck stocks over the pre-season if it is going to continue to compete for VFL glory, after the Borough lost Sunday’s pulsating VFL grand final to Geelong by 33-points at Etihad Stadium. Ayres said Geelong’s talls – Orren Stephenson and Dawson Simpson –

HERE are the selected line-ups for the VFL grand final clash between Port Melbourne and Geelong at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.   Port Melbourne B No. 23 H. Sandilands HT: 189 WT: 90 31. D. Noonan 193 92 8. S. Brewer 188 84 HB 6. C. Hinkley 185 79 36. S. Pleming 194 83 35.

IT’S 10 years since Port Melbourne and Geelong played in one of the great VFL-VFA Grand Finals. Port Melbourne, partially aligned with the Sydney Swans, appeared headed for a massive upset as they led the more fancied Cats by 14-points at three quarter time. Geelong had barely been troubled throughout the Home & Away matches

THIS week’s VFL grand final edition of The F Word comes to you from Etihad Stadium in Melbourne where we were able to join and record the the press conferences for the 2012 VFL and the 2012 TAC Cup grand finals

GEELONG VFL coach Matthew Knights says the Cats need to play “four quality quarters” to beat reigning premier Port Melbourne in Sunday’s VFL grand final at Etihad Stadium. Speaking at the VFL grand final press conference at Etihad Stadium today, Knights said his team needed to match Port in the midfield and contain it for

PORT Melbourne coach Gary Ayres believes he has a special group that are perhaps about to embark on history-making back-to-back flags as a stand alone VFL club, when some critics bestowed that it not one could be achieved in the current environment. He was full of praise for his hard-working brigade after Saturday’s impressive win

GEELONG VFL coach Matthew Knights rates reigning premier Port Melbourne as the “raging favourites” heading into Sunday’s blockbuster VFL grand final at Etihad Stadium. The Cats have overcome Port Melbourne earlier this season at Simonds Stadium before a narrow defeat in the qualifying final at North Port Oval – after drawing within three points in

GEELONG’S thrilling five-point win over the Werribee Tigers in yesterday’s preliminary final has somewhat set up some extraordinary symmetry for the Cats as they aim to continue their record of winning a VFL flag every five years. The Cats have won flags in 2002, 2007 and now are hoping to emulate their performances in 2012

PORT Melbourne is into its third grand in five years and will aim to go back-to-back after an impressive 34-point win in a VFL preliminary final against a gutsy Williamstown at North Port Oval yesterday. The Borough clicked into top gear, perhaps instigated by Williamstown’s frenetic tackling early on, and put together their most lethal

WILLIAMSTOWN’S youthful approach has instead become advantageous for the Seagulls – who have won eight consecutive matches heading into today’s preliminary final according to counterpart Port Melbourne coach Gary Ayres. He believes that some AFL-listed players in alignments “have their own agendas” to impress their senior AFL coach rather than having their eye on the

Preliminary Final 1: Port Melbourne v Williamstown, 2:10pm Saturday at North Port Oval WILLIAMSTOWN breathes excitement heading into this year’s preliminary final against Port. Its youngsters, with an average age of 20, have managed to string together eight consecutive wins including last week’s impressive win over Casey. But for as much as there is to like

PORT Melbourne coach Gary Ayres watched on aware of perhaps a new threat to its chances of back-to-back flags when Williamstown ran out convincing winners by 37-points over the Casey Scorpions at Casey Fields on Saturday. The Borough will meet Williamstown in a preliminary final this week. Ayres believes the youthful looking Seagulls appear to

RELIEF. Gary Ayres felt it, the entire playing group felt it and so did those loyal Port Melbourne fans. Certainly this Geelong team was the biggest obstacle in the reigning premier’s way of another grand final berth. Sure, it will have to get over the winner of Casey and Williamstown in a preliminary final but

PORT Melbourne coach Gary Ayres believes going back-to-back in the current VFL environment would be a massive achievement for the stand-alone VFL club. It will host Geelong in a qualifying final at North Port Oval today in what may be a grand final preview. “We were a great side last year, well if you are

PORT Melbourne skipper John Baird has surprised everyone and if not himself this season and it may well become reality tomorrow night at the J.J Liston Trophy count. He is expected to trump prolific team-mate Shane Valenti, who has won the past two Listons and in search of a history-making third, for the coveted award.

Qualifying final 1 – Casey Scorpions v Werribee Tigers 2pm Sunday at Casey Fields Casey has finished on top of the ladder but you get the feeling that most of the football world are yet to be convinced that it can actually win the flag. The Scorpions are slowly proving it could do it even

PORT Melbourne coach Gary Ayres was just relieved to get the points in its three-point win over Box Hill which keeps it in the hunt for top spot. The win helped it return to top of the table after Geelong upset Casey. “I just got that feeling that the game was being turned on its head and they

IT was just the Northern Blues’ third win of the season but it signifies the unity in its affiliation after belting out the club song with gusto in the rooms after the 99-point win over the Coburg Tigers at Preston City Oval today. “It’s really solid,” coach Darren Harris said. “There’s a really good bond between the Northern

CLAREMONT is likely to host the Foxtel Cup grand final against the Werribee Tigers after smashing VFL’s reigning premier Port Melbourne by 50-points in a semi-final at Patersons Stadium last night. The Borough admittedly fielded a team that resembled almost their seconds team, given their eye is well and truly on back to back flags

THE 30-point margin in the end didn’t do this game any justice to the blockbuster finish to the match it was. And fortunately ABCTV managed to show the entire match with player interviews given it was pushing its deadline finish. It should have been a ratings bonanza for the network and the pending result had

Join us for our VFL match of the round Saturday afternoon at North Port Oval from 1:00pm

MUCH has been written about stand-alone Port Melbourne’s stunning unbeaten 2011 season, but with the loss of eight premiership players few could or would have predicted that the Borough would continue that dominance into 2012. Despite defeating Frankston in Round 1, the Borough was a $7 chance in premiership markets. After defeating Frankston in Round

PORT Melbourne skipper John Baird has been named captain of the Victorian state team to take on Tasmania in Hobart on Saturday. Baird has arguably been in almost career best form for the Borough this season and has clearly been its best player to date. “His form this year has certainly been ‘blue chip’ as

PORT Melbourne cruised into the second round of the Foxtel Cup after an 87-point demolition of NT Thunder in Darwin on Saturday. Sam O’Sullivan booted seven goals in a career-high, while Mitch Woofendin snared 30 disposals in the 21.11 (137) to 7.7 (49) win. This win was enormous considering Port were without 10-first picked players,

PORT Melbourne coach Gary Ayres has admitted the VFL powerhouse won’t be at full strength when it travels to take on NT Thunder in Darwin in its Foxtel Cup clash on Saturday. Ayres will rest those stars included in the state representative game against Tasmania next week – Billy Burstin, Chris Cain, Dean Galea, John

WILLIAMSTOWN could meet Port Melbourne in an all-VFL clash on Saturday June 23 if both of the favourites get through to the second round as expected. The match is likely to be played at either Etihad Stadium or the MCG in what would be a blockbuster curtain raiser for any AFL clash. Both teams met

PORT Melbourne is not only the hot tip to take out its second consecutive VFL flag this season but has also stormed into become a steamy favourite for its first Foxtel Cup crown. The Borough are at $2.50 to take out the competition in their first year participating ahead of last year’s winner Williamstown on

ALREADY there is a two game gap between reigning premier Port Melbourne and the rest of the competition. The Borough remain undefeated after another impressive 84-point demolition of North Ballarat at North Port Oval on Saturday. Former North Melbourne defender John Baird is arguably in career best form early in the season. The influential skipper

THE Box Hill Hawks are confident of knocking off reigning premier Port Melbourne for the first time in 25 matches when they host the Borough at Box Hill City Oval tomorrow. The Hawks were the last team to defeat the Borough in the 2010 finals series and have played out several classic matches since; not

PORT Melbourne assistant coach Peter ‘Crackers’ Keenan says the Borough would easily beat Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney if it were playing in the AFL. Keenan told sports website – sportsnewsfirst.com.au – that the Borough appeared to be far more advanced than the two new AFL franchises after winning 24 consecutive games in the