Port Adelaide’s future captain Ollie Wines locks in new four-year deal at Alberton

PORT Adelaide has secured a mid-season coup after midfielder and vice-captain Ollie Wines signed a long-term contract to stay at Alberton, quashing any rumours of a return to Victoria.

14/06/18 - AFL - Port Adelaide v Western Bulldogs at The Adelaide Oval. Ollie Wines gets his handpass away to Chad Wingard. Picture SARAH REED

OLLIE Wines will be at the Port Adelaide Football Club for at least the next four AFL seasons.

Wines, 23, has settled on a new contract fulfilling his pre-season promise to coach Ken Hinkley to stay at Alberton.

The final arrangements keeping Wines at Port Adelaide until at least the end of the 2022 season were settled at Alberton on Tuesday evening. This deal takes Wines well beyond free agency that was within his reach at the end of 2020.

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley says club has created a culture that players want to be part of

Wines last night declared in a club statement: “This club has done everything right by me and my family since it welcomed me into the club six years ago.

“I have a firm belief in where the club is heading, the playing group it’s formed and the support off-field, and I am looking forward to the future.

“My position, and the club’s position, throughout our discussions has been that we have been in a good space and it was only a matter of time before I signed on again.”

Port Adelaide football chief Chris Davies last night celebrated Wines’ signature as “a significant commitment to Port Adelaide’s football program and a belief in the direction the club is heading.”

“Ollie is a great player, a brilliant young leader, and a popular member of the Port Adelaide community,” he said. “We did not have to work overly hard to convince Ollie to say. He has a strong commitment to the club - and by signing beyond free agency is a strong statement in his belief in Port Adelaide.

“Ollie was very clear - and comfortable - in his want to be at Port Adelaide.”

Wines progressed his early promise to remain at the Power to formal contract talks during the club’s mid-season break after the mid-May clash in Shanghai, China.

Ollie Wines of the Power has signed a new deal with the Alberton club. Picture: AAP Image/David Mariuz

At that time, Wines told The Advertiser: “I believe in the Port Adelaide list, a list that can be competitive for another 10 years as I see it. So I am in a really good spot.”

Wines carries the label of “future” Port Adelaide captain - a grand assignment that is not daunting the bullish midfielder.

Wines joined the Power as a first-round draftee (No. 7) and was an instant AFL player featuring in all 22 home-and-away games and two finals in his debut season in 2013. He has emphasised his durability by playing 119 of a possible 128 AFL games since his start.

Wines’ new deal was pre-empted on Monday night with Power coach Ken Hinkley repeating on the Fox Footy Channel’s On The Couch show his assertion that he was “100 per cent” certain of the Victorian re-signing with Port Adelaide.

“You talk about the culture of a football club, I just feel like Ollie is not going to be leaving the Port Adelaide Football Club,” Hinkley said. “As I’ve said a few times ‘I’m 100 per cent certain he will stay’ and I hope I’m not proven wrong.

Hinkley, who arrived at Alberton at the same time as Wines, has noted the midfielder’s bond to the Port Adelaide Football Club. This is built on a strong connection to his team-mates - and his family’s belief in the football club.

“I know Ollie incredibly well personally,” Hinkley said. “He’s committed to the group and you can just see, he’s great mates with some young players at the club.

“(He) looks like he’s on a path to becoming captain of the football club.

“His family are committed to our footy team.”