PORT ADELAIDE vice-captain Ollie Wines was pragmatic about his side’s pre-season, following defeats in Perth to both West Coast and Fremantle.
Speaking to media at Adelaide airport after the side’s return from eight days in the west, Wines said while he always wanted to win, there was time to ensure things that didn’t work as planned in those games were rectified for the start of the season on March 18.
The 28-year-old also discussed some of the young players that have caught his eye in recent weeks and how he will have to manage his knee injury going forward.
Ollie Wines on the results in Perth
“Ideally, we’d want to win every pre-season game and obviously we’re disappointed with the results over in Perth but fortunately for us it’s in the pre-season and we can take a lot away.
“Yesterday’s game against Fremantle, we learnt a lot. We possessed the ball a lot and had many opportunities but we just couldn’t make the most of them and our defence broke down a little bit at stages.
“It’ll be good to look at it over the coming week and best prepare for Brisbane (in Round 1).
“We understand over this pre-season it’s time to try new things… and we understand they won’t all take from day one and now we’ve seen it against real opposition who don’t know what we’re trying to do so we can tinker little things.”
Ollie Wines on the side’s ability to play faster football during its trial games
“A bit more so against West Coast. Credit to Freo, they play a bit more team zone defence where it is a bit harder to shift the ball off the line and get that creative ball movement going so I think they were able to stop our impact on that and make us play a bit down the line, which doesn’t work for us at times.
“It’s something we’re exploring, we’ve got to keep exploring our weapons down the middle of the ground – the guys like Rozee, Butters, Farrell, Burton who can line the ball up and continue to use those strengths.”
Ollie Wines on the improvement of Miles Bergman and his first impressions of Francis Evans
“Bergman particularly had a good game, up and down on the wing. He’s really putting himself in the right positions defensively getting back to help the backs and then at the other end linking up and hitting the scoreboard. He was terrific as was Rozee, who has done it for a year now and will continue to do so.
“The growth in those young guys in some key roles is where we’re going to improve in 2023.
“We’ve had a lot of wings on our list and some good wings perhaps played ahead of (Miles) last year but he’s really grasped that role now and he’s playing it really well.
“(Francis) was electric when he came on. I was really impressed by Frank. He’s put his head down and worked hard this pre-season. He got his opportunity in the last quarter and a half and he did really well and I think he’s put his name up there (for Round 1 selection).”
Ollie Wines on the health of the list
“I think everyone pulled up pretty good. There were a few little things, guys getting managed, getting back into games for the first time so I think we’re pretty healthy.”
Ollie Wines on managing knee pain following off-season surgery
“It pulls up pretty sore to be honest and it’s something I’ll have to manage for the rest of my career but it’s something that a few of us players have gone through over the last couple of years, this surgery and it’s something you’ve just got to get right for game day and I understand there’s going to be a bit of pain at times but as long as I’m right to go when the ball is bounced, that’s the main thing.”
Ollie Wines on players having a four-day break before returning to prepare for Round 1
“We’ve got two weeks off, a little bit of a break so the boys can go home or freshen up, then we’ll hit the ground running and prepare for Brisbane round 1, which will be an enormous occasion for us.”
