Why two-time premiership skipper thinks Wines joining Roos could be a "win-win"

Two-time Adelaide premiership captain Mark Bickley certainly thinks they should consider it after it was reported that the Roos have a genuine interest in the Brownlow winner.

Wines, 29, is now behind the likes of Connor Rozee, Zak Butters and Jason Horne-Francis on Port Adelaide’s midfield depth chart.

While he’s behind that young trio, he has still shown that he can dominate as a full-time on-baller in 2024 when one or more of those players has missed.

The original report, which came from AFL Media’s Cal Twomey, said that the Roos would need to offer Wines a long-term deal to tempt him away from Alberton, given he has two years left on his current contract.

Bickley thinks that the Roos would also need to offer Wines huge money for him to consider a move.

“Even if Port Adelaide don't win the premiership this year, they're in the box seat either way,” Bickley told SEN SA Breakfast.

“Right now, Ollie Wines has got two years to go of his contract.

“For North Melbourne to lever him out of out of Port Adelaide, first of all, they're going to have to pay him a lot of money, I suspect.

“We're not talking $1 million. We're talking probably $1.5 million. Remembering North Melbourne have got so much space in their salary cap, who are the huge stars at North Melbourne getting all the money? There isn't anyone.

“So let's just say it's a five-year deal so Ollie Wines gets some more security at $1.5 million a year. That’s $7.5 million.”

If North does end up offering a long-term deal on huge money, Bickley thinks that would give Port Adelaide reason to pursue a huge trade haul from the Roos, which means that giving up Wines could turn into a win-win.

He thinks that multiple clubs, not only North Melbourne, would be keen on his services if he had his nose turned on the open market.

“The minute they do that, Port Adelaide can quite rightly say, ‘Well, two years of his contract to go, he's going to become arguably the highest paid player in the competition, we need compensation’,” Bickley said.

“Compensation will be, I would have thought, minimum two first-round draft picks … something that is commensurate to paying that type of money.

“If Port Adelaide sees their future with Butters, Rozee and Horne-Francis, and you can get two first-round draft picks for a player who only really gets the big midfield minutes when one of those players isn’t playing, it’s almost a win-win.

“Ollie Wines is showing what he's capable of doing when he's in there for 90 per cent of the game.

“If he's not going to get that opportunity there, I think it wouldn't just be North Melbourne, there’d be clubs everywhere queuing up.

“They’d be telling him, ‘You can be our number one midfielder and you can play that role for us and be the Brownlow medallist again’.”

Hawthorn legend Luke Hodge also thinks a move for Wines would benefit North Melbourne as the midfielder could help set standards and change the club’s culture.