OLLIE Wines can count himself as part of another exclusive list. The Brownlow Medallist was in the 22-man Port Adelaide line-up that equalled the club's record of eight consecutive AFL wins in 2014 - and the only "survivor" on deck at Adelaide Oval on Saturday when the streak became nine (and counting).

(Still at Port Adelaide from the 22 who beat St Kilda at Adelaide Oval on June 7, 2014 to make it eight in a row are former captain Tom Jonas, who was absent at the weekend - just as then captain Travis Boak did not play in that history making game nine years ago nor on Saturday).

In 2014, the flying start was significant on two counts - for ending the questions on the merit of the Port Adelaide Football Club's presence in the AFL after the cash-strained pain of 2010-2012 chapter; and establishing the "new" Adelaide Oval as home again, after decades of unrivalled success in the city with SANFL success.

While Brownlow Medallist Gerard Healy came to significantly dub Adelaide Oval as "The Portess", that eight-game winning streak - that began with a 113-point thrashing of Brisbane at the Oval - did much more than set up Port Adelaide's run to consecutive AFL finals series for the first time since 2005.

In 2023, nine in a row - and the prospect of more wins - is about giving credibility to Port Adelaide's "Chasing Greatness" manifesto. On field, Wines and his team-mates are living to the ambitions of today's much-strengthened club ... and the heritage of the men who wore the jumper before them.

Senior coach Ken Hinkley is the other constant from 2014 and today ... and post-game on Saturday he was finding his memory cells struggling to go back in time. So much has changed in Australian football across those 10 seasons, but (as the French saying notes) some things do stay the same within a football team and its campaign for premiership glory.

"It is a very similar feel around the club," says Wines, who was in his second AFL season and had played his 35th game when the 2014 streak reached eight. He is now with 215 AFL matches to his name.

"We probably play to a similar manner. There is a lot of energy in the way we play with our defence, to turn the ball over and follow up with exciting ball movement.

"In 2014, we were able to set up a really good season with that," adds Wines of the year that took Port Adelaide to a preliminary final that was lost in the last minute to eventual premier and defending titleholder Hawthorn. 

In 2023, "this is a really proud moment for us," says Wines. "We have a greater journey in mind this year; more than breaking that record. We want to go all the way. We have taken another step to do that."

At the start of the current streak in round four - with an epic two-point win saved by Aliir Aliir's spoil on the goal line against Sydney after the final siren at the SCG - Port Adelaide was portrayed as a team needing a stepladder to dig itself out of a hole from a 1-2 start to the home-and-away series.

In 2014, eight wins in a row was part of the new dawn at a club that had endured its darkest hours both on and off the field from 2010-2012 fighting for its identity, survival in the national league and unity at home.

In 2023, a loss in Showdown LIII in round three - after a heavy 71-point defeat to Collingwood at the MCG - was portrayed as the end of time ... as well noted in the dramatic, overstated fall-out that filled the Monday media cycle.

"Externally ... not internally," says Wines.

"The world had not caved in on us internally. We understood we had a couple of bad games, but look at the form of those teams - they have stood up as really solid outfits. Collingwood is the benchmark of the competition. We faced two serious teams in those games. We were not up to it at that stage.

"Since then, we have fine tuned our game plan so that it is really clear for all of us," adds Wines of a significant ploy to ensure injuries do not undermine Port Adelaide's campaign. "No matter who is playing, or more to the point, when someone goes out of the side, we have had guys who come into the team to play that role. The results suggest we are not 'personnel-based' in our game. We have guys having tremendous years, but we have a lot of guys stepping into the team from the SANFL to play a role that is so clear to them."

Port Adelaide's nine consecutive wins are not only a confirmation of the squad theme adopted at Alberton in recent years, but also a tribute to a Wines and his team-mates who stood up against a challenging fixture loaded with early tests against 2022 finalists - Sydney, the Western Bulldogs, Melbourne and Richmond.

"We took a lot of confidence out of our first five weeks despite those two losses to quality opponents (in rounds two and three after opening the season with victory against 2022 preliminary finalist Brisbane)," Wines said.

"I feel we started the year really well and we have been able to build on from that. Winning creates a lot of confidence - it is the ultimate momentum creator, confidence. Once you've got it you want to keep it.

"(In 2014 and today, the winning steaks) create a lot of confidence and energy among our group.

"We are quite a young group. It is unknown in the AFL just how young we are - not as young as Hawthorn, but this team today would be one of the four or five youngest teams in the competition.

"These winning runs give you a lot of energy. We review them to a fine detail. We don't have any near misses throughout a game (because of that attention to detail). And we are still learning throughout this momentum run. It will best prepare us for what is to come. 

"We are very level headed throughout the week. We review to fine detail and find where we can still improve. We think we still have some upside to go. Two weeks before the bye (with testing matches against the Western Bulldogs and Geelong on six-day breaks and with national free-to-air exposure) and we are ready to rip into those games, have a rest and then tackle the rest of the season.

"(Nine in a row) is a notch in the belt but ... 

"We have bigger fish to fry in a way. We want to continue on and win as many games. It is just an opportunity now to rewrite the record again and again and again.

"It is special to be etched in the club's history ...but it is just one more step along the greater journey for us."

This theme - of "history in the making" - is true to Port Adelaide's heritage that was significantly shaped before World War I during one of the grandest eras of the club's story since 1870.

From the eighth round of SANFL season 1913 until round 11 of 1915, the club record was set at 32 matches without defeat (that includes the Invincibles of 1914). 

Just as the current Port Adelaide streak will echo across the nation, so did the fall of the Invincibles at the now-lost Jubilee Oval across from Adelaide Oval on July 31, 2015. The newspapers in Melbourne found space to record the moment with a telling observation of how Port Adelaide stood in the growing national game.

"Footballers only talked of one thing on Saturday night and that was the defeat of Port Adelaide at the hands of West Adelaide," published one Melbourne journal. "It was the first time that the Seasiders had been defeated anywhere in Australia for close on two years and the only excuse that can be offered is that they did not play up to their best form and were without three or four of their best players. To the casual onlooker the idea presented itself that the Ports were palpably stale. They played as well as ever in the first quarter but from then onward their efforts lacked dash and determination ..."

Locally, the football correspondents offered: "One of (Port Adelaide's) most ardent supporters declared afterwards a defeat would not disgrace them, but would rather tend to rebuild and unite the team which have done such great service to South Australian football."

And there was this footnote about how Port Adelaide's dominance had etched a mark beyond the record books with "a tendency to dampen the ardor of supporters of other clubs."

There are two other Port Adelaide streaks of significance in the club's story before advancing to the AFL in 1997.

Fos Williams' 1956 crew completely dominated SANFL football with the treble - flag, Magarey Medallist in Dave Boyd and league leading goalkicker in Rex Johns with his 70 goals.

Port Adelaide won the 1955 preliminary final and grand final, was undefeated during the first 13 rounds of season 1956, lost to South Adelaide in round 14 and then finished the season without defeat in six matches to claim its third consecutive flag of the Six in a Row (1954-1959).

John Cahill's record breakers of 1980 were just as potent and also complete the treble with Russell Ebert winning an unrivalled fourth Magarey Medal and Tim Evans rewriting the league goalkicking tally with his 146.

In defending the 1979 crown, Port Adelaide opened the SANFL season in 1980 with a draw, followed by four wins, a loss to Sturt, nine wins in succession, a loss to eventual grand final opponent Glenelg and finished with eight wins in a row to celebrate its 26th flag.

Port Adelaide's current club-breaking AFL streak supersedes three runs of eight consecutive wins -

Rounds 4-12, 2014 when Port Adelaide finished the eight wins with the league's top ranking en route to a preliminary final at the MCG

Rounds 8-15, 2002 when Port Adelaide again was a preliminary finalist - this time to eventual champion Brisbane at the Gabba

Rounds 15-22, 2003 when Port Adelaide closed the season with a preliminary final loss to Collingwood at the MCG.