Port Adelaide Power midfield star Ollie Wines says he wants to be a one-club player
STAR midfielder Ollie Wines — set to play his 100th AFL game when the Power takes on North Melbourne at Adelaide Oval on Saturday — wants to be a Port Adelaide player for life.
OLLIE Wines thought he would spend two years at Port Adelaide and then bolt back to Victoria.
His dad Tony told coach Ken Hinkley as much when he first met him.
“My dad was in all sorts and said to Kenny, ‘He’ll only be there for two years anyway’,’’ Wines said.
“To look back on that now and see how far I’ve come, how much I’ve fallen in love with the club, not just me but also my family, and to make it to 100 games, four-and-a-half years in, already going to be contracted for six years, it’s something I never thought would happen.”
And now the powerful, bullocking midfielder sees himself staying a Power player for life.
At just 22 and on the cusp of his 100th AFL game against North Melbourne at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, Echuca product Wines says he has no intention of walking out the club which had finished 14th and was a basket case when he arrived.
“I have fallen in love with the club,’’ said Wines who was selected at pick seven at the 2012 national draft from Bendigo under-18s.
“I don’t really have any ambition to move away. I love Adelaide, I love the club, and I guess you’d have to have a really special reason to go anywhere else.
“You see guys move interstate these days for money, for homesickness, but in terms of that I think the risk outweighs the reward.
“The grass isn’t always greener on the other side and I guess if you are happy in one place, why move, why change it up?’’
Vice-captain Wines, who is almost certain to be Port’s next captain, said he was yet to start contract extension talks with the club given his current deal didn’t expire until the end of 2018.
“There’s no rush for that,’’.he said.
The Power's original Raging Bull — rookie Sam Powell-Pepper has followed his “beastlike’’ qualities — Wines described playing 100 games for the club as “very special’’.
“Someone told me the other day I would get my name on the (No. 16) locker (at Alberton Oval) now, which will be there forever, so I’m very honoured,’’ he said.
Wines made an immediate impression at Port, earning an AFL Rising Star nomination in his first game against Melbourne at the MCG in Round 1, 2013.
He has missed just nine games in five seasons — all in 2015 with wrist and shoulder injuries — and averaged an elite 24 disposals, including 12 contested, five clearances and five tackles while kicking 47 goals.
If Wines stays at the Power and stays fit, he will challenge Kane Cornes’ club record of 300 games.
Wines paid tribute to Hinkley, president David Koch and captain Travis Boak for helping to “turn the club around’’ after he arrived.
“Those three guys have had an enormous impact in turning this club around and getting it to where it is now,’’ he said.
“Boaky changed the culture of the playing group and what we stood for and Kenny and Kochy changed the off-field and coaching side of it.’’
Wines, powerfully-built at 190cm and 97kg, said he is keen to take his game to the next level by kicking more goals.
“I’d love to hit the scoreboard a bit more,’’ he said.
FINE WINES
Port Adelaide’s Ollie Wines will be the first of the top-10 draft picks in 2012 to play 100 games, illustrating his stellar start to his career.
andrew.capel@news.com.au