SuperCoach bolter Joe Atley the ready-made midfield replacement for injured Power star Ollie Wines
While there’s no player on the Port Adelaide list who can replicate the influence of star Ollie Wines, the numbers suggest there’s a ready-made replacement — and SuperCoach bolter — waiting to help fill the void.
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- Chris McDermott: Why Wines injury should never have happened
The shoulder injury to Power star Ollie Wines, which will sideline him for 8-10 weeks, will have some big ramifications on SuperCoach.
While Wines has threatened to breakout as a SuperCoach premium for some time, his inconsistent scoring means he isn’t one of the first picked.
But with the 24-year-old likely to miss the early part of the season, there’s going to be big hole in the Port Adelaide midfield.
Sam Powell-Pepper, Brad Ebert and Tom Rockliff can — and need to — improve on last year but there’s a bolter.
And he’s rookie price in SuperCoach.
Third-year midfielder Joe Atley ($123,900 MID), who has three senior games to his name, is a ready-made replacement for Wines.
The 20-year-old is a similar build, standing at 188cm and weighing in at 88kg.
Wines, four years his senior, is 190cm and tips the scales at 99kg.
And, like Wines, the No. 32 pick from the 2016 draft is a contested-ball beast.
In his draft year of 2016, Atley won 55 per cent of his 22 possessions per game in a contest.
In 2017, playing for the Magpies in the SANFL, the right-footer recorded a contested possession rate of 52 per cent and ranked inside the top 10 in the competition for contested possessions and centre clearances after playing 17 games in his first year on the Power’s list.
Late in the same season, Atley, the younger brother of North Melbourne’s Shaun, made his AFL debut against the Eagles in Round 16, tallying 14 possessions — nine of them contested.
In his third — and last — game, the former Bendigo Pioneer’s captain scored 65 SuperCoach points, on the back of 10 disposals, seven contested possessions and seven tackles.
While he failed to add to his three senior games in 2018 — a year which was interrupted by injury — Atley impressed in the state league, averaging 22 disposals, six clearances, five tackles and 91 SuperCoach points per game.
Again, 50 per cent of his possession was won in a contest.
Wines’ percentage in the past two seasons were 49 and 51 and in that time, he recorded 163 more contested possessions than any other Power player.
It’s unfair to expect Atley to match the output of a star AFL midfielder — which wines undoubtedly is — but, if given the opportunity, he’ll help fill the void.
After injury and limited opportunity made for a frustrating 2018, the Victorian was linked to a move home late in the year.
Thankfully for the Power, he’s still on coach Ken Hinkley’s whiteboard.
Originally published as SuperCoach bolter Joe Atley the ready-made midfield replacement for injured Power star Ollie Wines