Port Adelaide Blueprint: Power’s punt on Ollie Wines paying dividends PORT Adelaide knew it was a big risk at the time. With choice No. 7 in 2012, the Power had the pick of the top South Australian talent. Gun locals Sam Mayes (8), Brodie Grundy (17), Ben Kennedy (18) and Tim Broomhead (19) were all available and the Power needed another frontline ruckman. Instead, it took the immensely successful punt on Echuca on-baller Ollie Wines, despite the strong suspicion he would want to return home to Victoria, national recruiting manger Geoff Parker said. “When we picked Ollie we were a basket-case, so to speak, and people were calling us irrelevant,” Parker said. “So it was a bit of gamble to take Ollie when there were kids in SA who were pretty highly-rated as well. “But our philosophy has always been to just pick who we think is the best player at the time and back our club to keep them. “We are fortunate that our leadership group with Travis (Boak) and Brad Ebert and Jack Trengove and these blokes have really developed a strong culture and great environment for them to enjoy.” Port Adelaide has led one of the AFL’s most stunning transformations since Wines arrived. After plucking gun tall Paddy Ryder from Essendon in controversial circumstances last month, continuing a string of successful trade moves, the Power are ready to go all the way. “The last couple of years we have tried to trade talent into the areas we needed and we’ve ticked them off,” Parker said. “Paddy was hopefully that tall forward ruck and the last missing piece and Paddy addresses that. “Hopefully, now, we are well set.” But it was back in 2006 and 2008 that some of the first and most important key planks were laid in the Port rebuild. The club scored Travis Boak (5), Robert Gray (55) and Justin Westhoff (71) in ’06, followed by Hamish Hartlett (4) Jackson Trengove (22) and Matthew Broadbent (38). They hit the jackpot with Chad Wingard (6) in 2011 and then Wines. Next week, the Power’s first pick isn’t until No. 57. Parker said the Power’s lightning-fast growth under coach Ken Hinkley had been a pleasant surprise. “We have worked pretty diligently to try and build a list that can sort of start to challenge and it’s probably happened a little bit quicker than myself and Jason (Cripps, list manager) thought when we first started the process,” Parker said. “But some people have come in like Ken and (Darren) Burgess (fitness chief) who have helped fast track the development of some of these kids. “But it has been really rewarding from my point of view because you pick them knowing they can do it and when you start to see them do it, it’s great.” He said the Power recruiting staff had been thankful for the club’s patience with some of their youngsters, dating back to the mid 2000s. Butcher is one such example, with Parker saying the club had seen his “glimpses of brilliance at AFL level” and “hoped he can discover the missing piece, whatever that is.” “I have been really thankful for the support we’ve got to keep going down the path we are going and bringing these top picks and hopefully giving them the time to develop,” he said. “Some other clubs might not have had the patience but I’ve been really thankful for the support we have got.”
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 10:01:59 +0000
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