Port Phillip Review Local

THEY weren’t quite able to match the might of the United States, but the Opals’ bronze medal in the women’s basketball was testament to the outstanding tournament they played.

Port Phillip was represented by Samantha Richards, from Elwood, who had eight rebounds, 21 assists and 26 points for the tournament. Her best game was a preliminary match against Great Britain, when she had two rebounds, four assists and eight points in the Opals’ 74-58 win.

The Opals went all the way to the bronze medal match, knocking off China in the quarter-final but losing to United States in the semi. They won bronze with a 83-74 victory over Russia.

The bronze medal was Richards’ first, having made her Olympic debut in London. It will surely now stand as the highlight of her career so far.

A LATE winner by Haris Vrbovac gave Port Melbourne Sharks a 2-1 win over Altona Magic and a huge boost in their bid for promotion to the Victorian Premier League.

The result keep the Sharks two points clear of Pascoe Vale and North Geelong at the top of the Division 1 table, although Pascoe Vale has a game in hand.

There was no score in the first half, but the Sharks hit the front with a goal to Darryl Roach early in the second to put the pressure on the fourth-placed Magic.
A lack of discipline from the Sharks allowed Altona to equalise from a free kick with just five minutes left in the game before Vrbovac scored for the second successive match from a magnificent cross from Dylan Murnane.

Sharks senior coach Eric Vassiliadis said his players showed tremendous courage to come away from Altona with a win.

“I felt we were reasonably comfortably and we got out to a good 1-0 lead,” he said.

“Then we shot ourselves in the foot, giving away free kicks in bad areas.

“But we had the belief we could still win and I was really pleased with the boys in the last few minutes. We have players capable of scoring at any point.”

He said the team was travelling well but needed to hold on to leads.

“We just need that little bit of composure,” he said.

“When we have the lead, we need to keep attacking and wanting the ball. We can’t afford to make similar mistakes week-in week-out.”

The Sharks take on 10th-placed St Albans this week but Vassiliadis stressed it was no easy game.

“They match up well on us,” he said. “They beat us 4-2 earlier in the year and they’ll be desperate to win so we’re expecting a tough challenge.”

THREE affordable housing developments have been built in Port Phillip in the past three months, adding 150 new apartments to the community housing register.

Port Melbourne’s Kyme Place, a three-level apartment block housing 27 residents in studio and one-bedroom accommodation, will be opened this week by housing minister Wendy Lovell and Port Phillip mayor Rachel Powning.

Not-for-profit Port Phillip Housing Association manages the community housing for singles, couples and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Community housing is not managed by the government but offers accommodation to people on low incomes who are often on the public housing waiting list.

Tenant John Dawes, 74, moved into the $9million Liardet Street development from public housing on Williamstown Road. The retiree spent 18 months on the PPHA waiting list before moving into his new studio apartment in June.

“There is no comparison,” he said. “It’s a really nice building that is close to shops and public transport and has many community facilities nearby. The public housing I came from is more than 60 years old and in need of major repairs.”

PPHA has 822 properties in its portfolio housing more than 1100 residents. In the past three months it has opened two other apartment blocks on Chapel Street and Vale Street in St Kilda, bringing the number of local residents housed in Port Phillip to almost 800.

PPHA operations manager Tanya Armstrong said there were 1716 people on the organisation’s housing register, more than 50 per cent of whom have a preference for housing in Port Phillip. Government public housing waiting list figures show a fall in applications in the three months to June from 37,887 to 36,940.

Kyme Place is a joint venture between the state government and Port Phillip council.

PORT Melbourne’s Cameron McKenzie-McHarg was part of the rowing crew that finished sixth in the men’s eight final.

The Australians were never in the hunt in a strong field, beaten by Germany, Canada, Great Britain, United States and Netherlands.

Their time of 5:51.87 was almost three seconds slower than gold medallists Germany, though their final 500-metre split was the quickest in the field.

Elwood’s Samantha Richards had four points, four assists and three steals in the Opals’ 67-61 win over Brazil.

The Opals led from start to finish and had stretched their lead to 12 with five minutes remaining before the Brazilians hit back late.

Lauren Jackson (18 points, eight rebounds) and Liz Cambage (double double – 17 points, 10 rebounds) were the standout performers.

DEATHS on local roads have more than doubled in the first half of 2012 compared with the same period last year.

Statistics from Victoria Police State Highway Patrol reveal there have been nine fatal collisions in division two of the southern metro region, which encompasses Moorabbin, Glen Eira, Bayside and Kingston.

The figure is up by five compared with the same period from January to July 24 last year.

Victoria Police State Highway Patrol Inspector David Griffin said the region had the state’s greatest year-to-date increase in fatalities.

Senior Sergeant Hans Harms of Moorabbin Highway Patrol said it was important to encourage sensible driver behaviour. “I think drivers have a lot more distractions now such as mobile phones and GPS,” he said.

“There are more motorbikes and cyclists on Beach Road and also a lot of older drivers. There are also pedestrians and they need to be really aware of the perception of speed when they are crossing roads.”

Mr Harms said the freeways and highways were the main hotspots for fatalities. “Drivers have to realise that driving is a privilege and not a right,” he said.

High-risk road trauma hotspots will become the focus of the State Highway Patrol’s Super Ardent operation during the next five weeks.

Mr Griffin said: “We’ll focus on things we know contribute to death; speeding, inappropriate speeds for conditions, drink and drug driving and distracted driving.”

VICTORIAN Football League powerhouse Port Melbourne has re-signed premiership coach Gary Ayres for a further two years, with an option on a third year beyond 2014.

The contract extension would make Ayres the stand-alone VFL club’s longest-serving coach, after he took over as head coach in 2008.

The five-time Hawthorn day and night premiership player and dual Norm Smith medallist said he was pleased to have the chance to guide the club to further success.

“I’m very happy for two reasons: one, that the club was interested enough in me to give me another two years, with the option for a third, and two, because I’m keen to try to keep that window of opportunity [for another premiership] open,” he said.

Last year, Ayres delivered the club’s first premiership since its three-peat in 1980-82, leading the Borough through a remarkable undefeated season.

In the four years since Ayres took over the reigns, the club has finished runner-up in 2008, then third, sixth and first and is yet to miss the finals.

With the club sitting atop the ladder this year, Ayres, 51, said he was confident of maintaining success in coming years.

“We want to continue the success we’ve had. [The reappointment] gives us the chance to do some forward planning. Obviously we are focused on the season at hand but we can also look at recontracting players and recruiting.

‘‘It gives us an opportunity to kick-start work on the 2013 season and gives us stability going forward.”

Ayres said the optional third year was a “mutual consent decision” and would be based on whether both he and the club were still happy with the arrangement at the end of the 2014 season.

Port Melbourne president Peter Bromley said the agreement would ensure the club was in the best possible position to maintain success.

“The two year extension means Gary will continue to lead and develop this exciting playing group,’’ Bromley said.

“At the Borough, Gary and his coaching staff call the shots. There are no AFL-listed players dropping back, no one from another club giving different instructions. If you put in the effort and consistently perform, you will keep your spot.”

Bromley added that the club was looking to sign a major sponsor for the remainder of this year and beyond.

Any interested parties can call the club’s general manager, Barry Kidd, on 9646 2094.

COMEDIAN Tommy Little has lived in Port Melbourne for three years. He highlights his favourite haunts.

BEST BIG BREAKFAST: Simple Affair. It’s just off Bay Street in Port Melbourne, and has heaps of really healthy food and great staff. It’s the perfect place to wash away your sins from the night before.

GO TO RELAX: Port Melbourne Beach. There’s something about the combination of the sun, the water and the leathery oiled up old men wearing Speedos that really calms me.

FOR A ROMANTIC DATE: I really like The Toff in Town but my love life is in shambles, so maybe I’m not the person to be asking.

LAST-MINUTE GIFT: Still Ikea – and the gift usually ends up being a large amount of hot dogs.

A TOP COFFEE FIX: 7-Eleven. I wrote that answer just to hear the collective sigh of every hipster in Melbourne. On a serious note, St Ali is awesome.

FIND A GREAT READ: My local bookstore – the Avenue.

FAVOURITE TAKEAWAY: At 3am, it’s Maccas. At any time other than 3am it’s anything but Maccas. Eating fast food while sober should be outlawed.

ALL BY MYSELF: I go to the bathroom. I’ve tried taking friends but they get weirded out.

SPEND MY LAST TEN DOLLARS: The Ikea Cafe. Hot dogs are only $1 and if you eat 10 you could die, so it really will be your last 10 dollars.

BEST KEPT SECRET: Miss Chu, the soup nazi of rice paper rolls. She’s massive in Sydney and only just taking off here.

WHERE I GO

Simple Affair: 224B Bay Street, Port Melbourne, call 9681 7888

The Toff in Town: 2/252 Swanston Street, city, call 9639 8770

St Ali: 12-18 Yarra Place South Melbourne, call 9686 2990

Avenue Bookstore: 127 Dundas Place, Albert Park, call 9690 2227

Ikea: Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre, 630 Victoria Street, Richmond, call 8416 5000

Miss Chu: 2/297 Exhibition Street, city, call 9077 1097

MOORABBIN Rams strengthened their standing in the Victorian Rugby Union Premier 1 grade with a mammoth 53-19 win over Power House on Saturday.

While both sides were chasing spots in the top six, the Rams raced to a 26-7 half-time lead and never released their grip on the match.

An early try set the tone, and from there Moorabbin ran in eight tries to three.

Rams coach Justin Wilson said preparation was key to the big win.

“We were much better this week,” he said.

“Our players were a bit relaxed before they got on the field last week and we acknowledged that and fixed it this week.”

He said while the attack finally clicked there were still issues in defence that needed to be ironed out.

“I thought our defence was good for about 50 minutes,” he said. “But once we got a decent lead we fell back into old habits, which was frustrating.

“There’s always room for improvement and the big thing is going to be composure. We look to score too early when we have the ball.”

Power House coach Paul Hamer said his side had been given a lesson.

“They played to their potential and we were nowhere near it,” he said.

“Defence was a big factor and we let them run at us.

“They found lots of holes in our defensive line and exploited it as we sat back and watched.

Wilson said Power House would need to play out of its skin to make the finals.

“It gets trickier now,” he said. “In the next four games we come up against three sides sitting above us.

“But if we can play 80 minutes of good rugby then yes, we can be confident of knocking off a few clubs. “

THE new vision for St Kilda Triangle has been criticised for falling short of parking spaces for Palais punters.

Released by Port Phillip Council last month, the St Kilda Triangle 2012 draft document outlines a vision to provide approximately 200 car parking spaces in the shadow of the Palais Theatre, with the potential to create additional parking underneath the Esplanade slopes.

But critics say the amount of spaces is not enough to cope with the volume of patrons attending concerts at the iconic 2896-seat theatre.

The site currently has 316 parking spaces.

John Webster, of the St Kilda Liberal Party Branch, said: “I don’t agree with what the council is proposing with the car parking spaces.”

“I’m not a traffic expert but it seems the new plan hasn’t enough car parking spaces for people coming to concerts. It’s a recipe for disaster.”

Port Phillip mayor Rachel Powning said the parking area shown in the St Kilda Triangle 2012 document was based on feasibility studies undertaken by ARUP, which tested different sized car parks.

“What the document does show is how much of the site a one-deck car park of around 200–250 spaces would take up,” she said.

“This was to test community views about car parking, as well as the possible size of a car park on the Triangle.”

As part of the implementation of St Kilda Triangle 2012, Cr Powning said further work would be undertaken to understand where the Palais patrons came from and how many car parks were needed to support it operating into the future.

Community consultation on the draft vision will close on Friday.

Police are seeking witnesses to an armed robbery at a shopping centre in Port Melbourne.

Five people with covered faces, believed to be men, entered Bakers Delight and a Coles supermarket in Bay Street about 10.25am on June 16.

Staff were threatened with a meat cleaver and knives. The thieves stole cash from both stores before fleeing in a stolen silver sedan.

“It certainly was a very brazen attack at a peak shopping time, when there were children in prams at checkouts,” said Senior Sergeant Eric Strik, from South Melbourne police.

He said police had increased foot patrols in the area since the robbery to help restore community confidence.

Police have praised customers who took video footage of the robbery on their smart phones. Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via the website crimestoppers.com.au