Wines urged to “wind the clock back” without Port Adelaide security blanket

Ollie Wines has been urged to “wind the clock back” for Port Adelaide under the lights of Friday night footy.

The Power take on Geelong at GMHBA Stadium in need of a win on the back of their Showdown defeat to Adelaide last week.

They’ll enter the crucial encounter without captain Connor Rozee who is sidelined with the hamstring issue that plagued him against the Crows.

With that being the case, the stage is set for Wines to have a big impact, and David King has implored the Brownlow Medallist to step up and show the football world that he’s still got it.

“I’m putting Ollie Wines in the gun,” King said on SEN Breakfast.

“I want to see Ollie Wines wind the clock back tonight and perform without the security blanket of Connor Rozee in the midfield.

“They need him to have a performance. This year he is the 177th rated player in the competition. That’s a drastic drop from where he’s been.

“He’s had 13 clearances and 18 score involvements in the last month of footy. It’s just an average return.

“We need Ollie to get back to his ball-winning best. We haven’t seen it for a little while.

“He’s a massive presence on this team. I know he’s playing a little bit of ruck and a little bit forward of the ball as well but he’s an 80 per cent midfielder.

“Tonight’s the night to show that you’ve still got it.

“Or maybe Ken (Hinkley) has to reevaluate this midfield and the magnets that he’s putting in there.”

Wines used to break the 30-disposal threshold for fun, but has been unable to get there in his last 32 games.

He has been asked to play varying roles by Power coach Hinkley, perhaps sacrificing his own ball-winning game to allow the likes of Rozee, Zak Butters and Jason Horne-Francis to flourish.

The 29-year-old is averaging 23.6 disposals across seven matches this season, more than the 21.7 he averaged all of last season. He had just 17 touches when the Power lost to the Cats at GMHBA in Round 21 last year.