PORT Adelaide co-captain Ollie Wines is firming for an AFL return as players publicly renew their faith in coach Ken Hinkley.
Wines has missed the past two games because of a broken thumb and completed ball work ahead of Port’s away fixture against Essendon on Saturday.
The Power enters the MCG clash in 10th spot and needing a win to remain in finals contention but experienced onballer Tom Rockliff says players have no reason to lose any faith in Hinkley.
“The playing group has complete faith in him,” Rockliff told reporters on Wednesday.
“He is hard when he has to be hard and he’s fair when he has to be fair.
“But I think all the guys know where they stand with him and you can’t ask for anything else than that from a senior coach.
“A coach that cares about you but will tell you how it is and have those conversations with you.”
Wines’ progress at Wednesday’s training heartened his teammates.
The co-captain didn’t feature in competitive work but had discarded a protective guard on his injured thumb while doing ball work.
“He felt pretty comfortable out there,” Rockliff said.
“So whether he’s ready to go or not probably depends how it pulls up tomorrow,.
“Ollie is an outstanding player, brings plenty of run and grunt work inside for us. Anytime we have Ollie out there, we’re a better team.”
© AAP 2019
