Port Adelaide has the resilience to cover for both Ryder and Gray: Wines
PORT Adelaide has refused to use the loss of star players as an excuse — for last week or for future matches.
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PORT Adelaide vice-captain Ollie Wines says the Power will call on experience and resilience to cover the loss of All Australian ruckman Paddy Ryder.
The Power had both Ryder and Robbie Gray — the club’s two most important players — on the bench for much of its shock loss to Fremantle last weekend and could miss both of them against fellow finals contender GWS at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
Ryder will definitely be out with a hip flexor strain while Gray is recovering from being knocked out from a tackle and will be assessed further closer to the match.
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But Wines said he backed the remains of the list to get the job done and advance the team towards the top-four.
Port Adelaide would draw on wells of resilience from its own struggles over the years as well as that endured by the string of experienced players who arrived from other clubs over summer.
“I don’t think that we as a playing group use that (key injuries) as an excuse for us,” Wines said.
“We could have beaten them with two men on the bench if we had played well enough.
“They’re probably our two most important players and they leave a big void but we back the buys that are coming in and the guys in the team are ready to step up.
“We don’t think in the last month we’ve played our best footy and we’ve won three out of four games so we think we’ve got a lot of room for improvement.
“Look we had a whole year without a ruckman when Paddy was suspended where we got by.
“It’s a massive loss but we think we can cover it.
Wines said morale had remained high at Alberton despite the loss to the Dockers, which was one of the biggest upsets of the round.
The same quality — resilience — had helped the players stay upbeat and try to learn from the performance.
“We’re a really resilient team; we’ve had to be,” Wines said. “We’ve had guys come from other clubs where they’ve had to learn to be resilient and our footy club was almost on its knees a few years ago.
“We’re very thick-skinned
“A loss is disappointing but you’ve got to move on in this caper.”
Coach Ken Hinkley last night indicated Gray was more likely to play than not against the Giants.
But he underlined that no risks would be taken with the triple club champion.
“Right straight after the game Robbie pulled up pretty well from a pretty bad knock,” Hinkley told radio station FIVEaa. “He was clear and his memory was all good.
“He remembers the absolute moment but he could remember the first part of the game and the last part of the game.
“He wasn’t unwell, he wasn’t sick and that’s what they look for.
“He hasn’t had any symptoms thus far of delayed concussion but they can still come.
“We wouldn’t take a chance — he’s too good a person and player to risk and with concussion they’re no grey area, you just can’t take a risk with a player.”