PORT ADELAIDE vice-captain Ollie Wines has spoken of the “massive” opportunity the club has given itself to win a premiership in its 150th Anniversary year.
Wines appeared on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 program on Tuesday night and provided an insight into the goals set by his side early in the year.
The 25-year-old said having a home Preliminary Final next week had created an opportunity that Port wanted to take advantage of.
“It’s massive,” Wines said.
“We set our sights first of all coming into the season to finish top four – we haven’t done it in Ken’s tenure and we understand how hard it is to win a flag from outside that top four - so to be able to tick that off and now to tick winning a qualifying final off, to get a home final to get into the granny is a massive opportunity for us.
“There’s talk about maybe increasing the crowd allowed at Adelaide Oval so it’s going to be a massive opportunity for us.”
Port finished top of the ladder after holding that spot all season, a feat not achieved since Essendon did it in 2000.
It earned the side a home Qualifying Final against Geelong in front of more than 22,000 supporters – a big crowd in this COVID-19 affected season.
Wines said there was no doubt having such passionate support helped the side get over the line.
“It was like nothing I’ve been part of,” he said of the atmosphere.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of some pretty big games at Adelaide Oval – Showdowns, finals - and the stadium was only at 50% capacity for Thursday night but just the sound and the energy and the momentum that the crowd was able to give us is hard to put into words.
“It was a really special night for us, something we’ve worked hard at and something we’re pretty proud of.”
Despite constant rumours of a move back to Victoria, Wines said that was not on his radar at all – instead he was focussed on achieving something with a playing group he said was probably the best set up for long-term success in the competition.
“I love every part of this group. There’s probably a core along with Kenny that’s put the hard work in for eight years to get to this point,” he explained.
“Over the last 18 months we’ve focussed so hard on getting a connection with one another and something deeper than just at a football level.
“I think we’ve been able to create that and the 30mins-hour after a game we always say is our favourite time of the week just to be able to sit amongst one another and reminisce on the work we’ve put together that night is so special and hopefully we’ve got more opportunities to do that this year.”
Wines elaborated on the connection between the group, which he said went far beyond football.
He said players had genuine care for their teammates, coaches and club staff and wanted to reward each other for their hard work as a unit.
“It’s been a big focus of ours to get to know one another and our past experiences and sort of opening ourselves to be vulnerable and letting each other into our lives,” Wines explained.
“We’ve been able to do that throughout the year, starting first on the Sunshine Coast for our camp and throughout the season at times.
“I think it’s been able to form a bond that’s a lot stronger than probably a lot of other football clubs at the moment and I hope you see on the field that we generally care for one another and we love rewarding each other.”
Wines and his teammates will face either Richmond or St Kilda in a Preliminary Final at Adelaide Oval on Friday 16 October from 7:20pm.
