Port Adelaide co-captain Ollie Wines sure of his fitness — now chasing form

Ollie Wines now has two games under his belt — after being denied a pre-season by a shoulder injury — but the new Port Adelaide co-captain is still playing catch-up with his form.

Port Adelaide co-captain Ollie Wines has gained certainty in his fitness from his two games since shoulder surgery, but the inside midfielder is still looking to clear the “fog” as he searches for his best form. Picture: Sam Wundke

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Port Adelaide co-captain Ollie Wines is clear of any doubt on his body, but the inside-midfield bull is still clearing the “fog” that lingers from a delayed start to his AFL season.

And Wines is not alone at Alberton as the Power’s 2-2 start to the premiership campaign highlights many Port Adelaide players are still grasping with Ken Hinkley’s change to the playbook that demands a higher skill base.

Port Adelaide co-captain Ollie Wines has gained certainty in his fitness from his two games since shoulder surgery, but the inside midfielder is still looking to clear the “fog” as he searches for his best form. Picture: Sam Wundke

This was most evident in the second term of Saturday’s seven-point loss to Richmond at Adelaide Oval where the makeshift Tigers unit put the brakes on the Power’s play-on game.

Wines played his second AFL game on Saturday — catching up on the two pre-season matches missed by the shoulder injury from his water-skiing accident on the Murray at the end of January. And he is clear of any doubts created by the corrective shoulder surgery.

“My body feels fine now,” Wines told The Advertiser after his 20-touch performance against the Tigers.

But Wines is the toughest judge of what is to come next as he and co-captain Tom Jonas seek to lead Port Adelaide through a season filled with demanding expectations.

“It is about getting used to football,” he said. “I am fine running around and everything. But at times, I am lost.

“Obviously, I have not found form in these first two games — and I guess it is a trend in the team at the moment with some guys lacking form to get a result.

“It is a little bit of rust on my part.

“It is only my second game of footy for the season and there are little things. That is to be expected. But at times I was a bit lost, caught on the wrong side of the contest or caught out by the opposition mids.”

Reassuring for Hinkley and his midfield coach Jarrad Schofield as the Power seeks to deepen its midfield rotations is the certainty in Wines’ physical capabilities.

“My running capabilities were 100 per cent; I covered the ground fine (against Brisbane and Richmond),” Wines said.

“The only thing is I was lacking an influence on the game which I usually pride myself on.

“We have ticked off that my body is fine to play football; now I’ve just got to find some form, find the footy and have an impact on the game.”

Port Adelaide made a 2-0 start with wins against Melbourne and Carlton before club history was made with Wines joining Jonas as co-captains in the dramatic losses to Brisbane and Richmond.

A disappointed Ollie Wines leads Port Adelaide off the field after the loss to undermanned Richmond. Picture: AAP Image/Sam Wundke

“(Co-captaincy) is good,” Wines said. “This is the first test where I am not in form myself. So to be able to stimulate yourself to be able to lead the team — while not being in your best form — is something I have not obviously faced.

“Tom and I are very close, so we will work through it. We have a lot of good people around us to help us through that.

“These times are meant to make you stronger. We will learn from it.”

Port Adelaide will seek to avoid falling into the negative with its win-loss count in the historic Good Friday clash with nemesis West Coast at Perth Stadium. The Power has won just one of its past seven matches since 2015 against the Eagles. Five of those defeats have been by 10 points or less.

The review of the Richmond loss will reflect a common theme from the recent West Coast defeats — the costly errors of Port Adelaide’s own making.

“We were beaten by what we knew (of Richmond),” Wines said.

“We did not play them well enough to what we knew. We knew they are a long-kicking team. They get on the fly at the contest. And win it out the back. We were not able to hang onto that — and they were able to kick a lot of goals.

“We did not play well to our part either. We have some guys who are not in the best form, including myself. So that does not help either.

“(Richmond) closed down targets we thought could not be closed down. And we missed targets that we should have hit. And perhaps took options that we should not have taken.”

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