OLLIE WINES headlines Port Adelaide’s three nominees for the AFL Players’ Association Most Valuable Player award for 2021.
Wines is averaging a career-high 32 disposals and six clearances per game this season, putting himself firmly amongst the favourites for the Brownlow Medal.
Wines has also booted nine important goals this season and is among the players picked in the initial 40-man 2021 All-Australian squad, to be finalised on Thursday night.
As well as Wines, his fellow All-Australian squad members Karl Amon and Aliir Aliir have been nominated for the MVP award.
Aliir has been a revelation since his arrival at Port Adelaide. He ranks sixth in the competition for contested marks and third for intercepts, possessing an innate ability to read the ball in the air.
Amon’s season has been a picture of consistency. The 26-year-old, who played his 100th game at the weekend, is averaging 24 disposals and ranks eleventh in the competition for metres gained, having taken his game to a new level with a move on the ball from his customary wing position.
Port Adelaide captain Tom Jonas has also been nominated for the Most Courageous player award and is automatically nominated as the best captain, while his fellow defender Lachie Jones is the club’s nominee as the Best First Year player.
The nomination for the MVP Award is a two-stage process. The first involves players nominating three teammates for the award, before three nominees from every club are presented to the wider playing group for a vote to decide the winner.
Players cannot vote for their own teammates in stage two of the process
A similar process is followed for Best First Year player and Most Courageous, however just one player is nominated from each club.
The winners will be announced at the AFL Players’ MVP Awards event on Thursday 2nd September.
Lachie Neale (MVP), Caleb Serong (Best First Year), Dane Rampe (Most Courageous), Scott Pendlebury (Best Captain) were the 2020 award winners.
