AFL: Why 150 could be be Port Adelaide’s magic number
In Port Adelaide’s 150th year, captain Tom Jonas and vice-captain Ollie Wines will play their 150th games.
It’s funny how things work out sometimes. In Port Adelaide’s 150th year, the club’s two leaders, captain Tom Jonas and co-vice-captain Ollie Wines, will play their 150th games together when the Power take on Richmond at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
The duo revealed they’ve formed a strong bond not only on the field, but away from it, thanks to a shared love of waterskiing.
In fact, Wines unveiled Jonas as “the waterski man”, in reference to the 2019 incident where he dislocated his shoulder waterskiing on the Murray River with teammates, and missed the start of the season.
“(Jonas is) the waterski man, so he got me in strife there,” Wines, 25, said.
But Jonas, 29, defended himself: “I wasn’t driving the boat that day, I wasn’t even there.
“I just encourage waterskiing, I thought it was a great pastime and a good way to get away from the rigours of AFL, so I had him up at my place plenty of times.”
Jonas said nothing had changed between them when he was given the captaincy, saying they accepted the best decision for the footy club, and were now set on pursuing their goal of playing in, and winning, a premiership.
“Whether you’re the last player in the squad or the captain or the vice-captain, I think we’re more about team success than individual accolades,” he said.
Jonas said he was honoured to play 150 games for Port Adelaide.
“It’s been a bumpy road and we probably haven’t got to where we would like to have got to as a team, but to play the 150th game in Port’s 150th year and what is shaping up to be an exciting season for us is an absolute honour and to do it alongside one of your great mates and leader of the club is even better,” he said.
Wines, 25, said Jonas had taught him a lot about professionalism.
“Tommy’s been an enormous role model for me, not just as a footballer, but as a man off the field. “To do it next to him, with him as captain and me as one of the vice captains it makes it even more special.
“I guess (150) is just a number, but you’ve got to look back on your career at some points and this is one of the points you look back and see what’s happened and prepare yourself for the future.
“So it is, I guess, just a number but it marks something special you’ve been able to do with your career.”
Wines — the No 7 pick in the 2012 draft — debuted for the Power in round 1 of 2013 and won a Rising Star nomination for that debut game against Melbourne after he picked up 24 touches (16 contested) and kicked a goal. Port won that game by 79 points.
Meanwhile, his future skipper, Jonas, had debuted in Port’s back lines two seasons earlier after being picked up at No 16 in the 2011 rookie draft. His debut game was less glorious, a round 21, 165-point thrashing at the hands of Hawthorn.
But 2020 is proving special.
“The more strong performances you piece together, the more you believe,” Jonas said. “There’s still a lot of water to go under the bridge but at this stage we’ve done what we can, we’re developing a strong playing group that believes in each other, believes in the game style and we’ve got another great challenge on Saturday.”
The Advertiser
More Coverage
Track watch: Young Roo justifying North’s draft gamble
Eyebrows were raised when North Melbourne paid a huge price to trade up for Matt Whitlock at the draft. But if his latest pre-season outing was any indication, it’s a gamble that is set to pay off. SEE FULL MATCH SIM NOTES.
AFLPA hits out at ‘name, shame and punish’ drugs system
The AFLPA has opposed a reported change to the AFL’s drugs testing system which it says would “name, shame and punish” players and reduce their anonymity.