Gather Round: Ollie Wines to miss Essendon clash as Dan Houston points out key Port Adelaide focus

Port Adelaide’s midfield has been dealt another blow with Brownlow Medallist Ollie Wines stuck down by injury – but there is good news. Here’s the latest.

Dan Houston of the Power chases the ball against the Dees in Adelaide in Round 3. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images.

Port Adelaide will be without Brownlow Medallist Ollie Wines for its Friday night Gather Round clash against Essendon.

But there is good news for Ken Hinkley’s side, with young star Jason Horne-Francis to make his return from a hamstring injury of his own.

Wines felt soreness in his hamstring late on in the Power’s seven-point loss to Melbourne at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.

He spent the last seven minutes of the match on the bench.

Scans have revealed Wines strained his hamstring but the club is hopeful it will just be a one week absence for Wines, who trained fully this pre-season.

Horne-Francis will be available for selection after missing the Power’s last two games after he completed full training on Tuesday.

Ollie Wines will miss the Gather Round clash against Essendon. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos

What Port really need to ‘tighten up’ ahead of Gather Round

Team defence was a big focus for Port Adelaide over pre-season.

But after Melbourne were able to steal a win over the Power, despite significantly less forward 50 entries, leadership group member Dan Houston says Port will take a good look at its team defence and “tighten that up”.

Despite having 45 inside 50s to the Power’s 66, the Demons were able to kick a winning score – aided by their 48.9 per cent scoring efficiency when entering the arc.

The Power was leaky in defence last year and recruited key defenders Esava Ratugolea and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher in the off-season to help address this.

Team defence has been a big focus for the Power over the off-season and Houston said it would continue to be a significant one after the loss.

“They were able to kick some goals from centre bounce, they got some really good looks through that and were able to take their opportunities,” he said.

Dan Houston in action against Melbourne. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos

“We have Esava and Brandon back there so we are still getting to know them

they had some really good contests (against the Demons).

“Team defence is always on the cards for the footy club, we will go back to the drawing board and make sure we tighten that up.

“Good teams will score against us but if we can keep that down it will help.”

Power senior coach Ken Hinkley also said there still improvement required.

“We are not perfect clearly, because we got beat and gave up a score with 45 entries,” he said.

“So we gave up too big of a score but that does go back to some of the conversion, they took some shots from tough spots and were good enough.

“It is not perfect clearly, we are looking for little improvements, we got a check against an absolute quality team.”

Despite this, Houston said there were some positives the Power could take out of the loss.

Mainly how Port dominated nearly every stat on Saturday night.

“There were some positives for us, we won the inside 50 count, played some good front of centre footy for the majority of the night,” he said.

“In the last quarter we lost a bit of contested possession and when it came to accuracy in front of goals Melbourne were awesome all night.

“It was a little bit frustrating, we felt like we had enough opportunities to kick goals and put some real scoreboard pressure on.

“We fell flat across the board, it wasn’t just the forwards, it was the mids and the backs as well. We need to share the load and make sure we keep the footy in there and give ourselves opportunities but we didn’t put the pressure on the scoreboard.”

The Power will get the chance to put the loss behind them when it takes on Essendon on Friday night in Gather Round.

It will be Houston’s 150th game, with his career one of being taken with the 45th pick of the 2016 rookie draft to now a leadership group member for the Power and an all-Australian.

It is a journey that has impressed his coaches.

“I’ve only had a year with Dan but I’ve been super impressed with obviously the player that he is now,” Power assistant coach Josh Carr said.

“I haven’t seen where he came from but you know, I think he started on the rookie list to where he is now as is a pretty good effort from him. He’s a very good player and I’m lucky to be coaching him.”

Houston said he was keeping the approach he had in his all-Australian season in 2023 with him in 2024.

“I think I have played some strong footy, I haven’t had my big games but I am just there to play my role and if we are winning I am having fun,” he said.

“So that is the main thing and I look to build each week, it is a long season and I know I’m not going to play my best footy every week it is just about being consistent.

“I just want to play my role and help us win, I know it is a cliche but that takes the pressure off and that’s the approach I had last year.

“So I’ll go back to that mentality again and if the accolades come, they come, but it’s not at the forefront of my mind.”

Originally published as Gather Round: Ollie Wines to miss Essendon clash as Dan Houston points out key Port Adelaide focus