A LEANER, more muscular Ollie Wines has revealed his new, streamlined body is a result of a diet enforced by his mother prior to Port Adelaide’s pre-season.
That diet, combined with some hard work in the gym, has helped Wines shed fat and replace it with lean muscle.
It wasn't anything groundbreaking, just healthy, sensible eating with an emphasis on portion control.
The star midfielder spent a couple of months at home in Echuca after the Power's 2014 campaign ended three-points short of a Grand Final berth at the hands of Hawthorn.
It was just his second season in the AFL but Wines' year confirmed his status as one of the League's most powerful contested midfielders; he was fifth in the competition for handballs and 10th for contested possessions.
Although his inside game is quickly becoming the best in the competition, Wines and the Power have focused on developing his outside ability.
Transforming fat to muscle will help dramatically; the 20-year-old is clearly slimmer and said his running capacity had been significantly improved.
"Mum got the diet ramped up back home. I went home for about two months so it was that combined with hard work - what 'Burgo’ (Port’s high performance boss Darren Burgess) sets us over the off season," Wines said.
"Since then as pre-season's gone on we've ramped up weights and I've probably put on more muscle and lost fat.
"I'm a lot leaner which is helping my running ability.
"It's a lot easier to run when you're not carrying that extra weight in fat, but in muscle.
“It will just mean I'm not always inside; I can go to a wing and play a more outside role."
Fans of Wines' nickname 'Quadzilla' shouldn't fret either. He said his tree trunk-like thighs had retained their robust form.
"They've maintained their size and shape, I think. I haven't lost too much off them – I'm squatting a personal best in the gym so they're travelling well."
As well as his mother, Wines said Port's midfield manager Michael Voss had also played an important role in helping his outside game.
Voss arrived at Alberton to replace Phil Walsh, who joined Adelaide as senior coach last October.
The Brisbane Lions legend was one of the best midfielders the game has seen and Wines said he had been teaching players how to handle inside traffic and to utilise players on the outside.
As was evident in Port's training run last Friday night at Alberton Oval, switching play from congestion to space will form an important part of the side's offensive plan this year.
“[Voss was] really good at one-on-one and getting split from an opponent inside a stoppage, so we've been doing a lot of work on that as well as getting outside the stoppage," Wines said.
"Being a three-time premiership captain, you can't get much better than that. He’s got a lot of little tips and tricks to really expose the opposition.”
The Power will face West Coast at Norwood Oval on Sunday in their opening NAB Challenge clash.