Ken Hinkley has coached Joel Selwood and thinks he might be seeing a similar player in Oliver Wines
AFTER overseeing the arrival of Joel Selwood at Geelong, there's a sense of déjà vu watching the emergence of Port Adelaide's Oliver Wines for coach Ken Hinkley.
An assistant coach to Mark Thompson at Kardinia Park in 2007, Hinkley coached Selwood in his rookie year and drew comparisons to what he's now witnessing in Wines.
In just his third game of AFL football and with a NAB AFL Rising Star nomination already to his name, Wines collected 25 disposals, had five clearances and kicked two goals in his side's nine-point Showdown win over Adelaide on Sunday.
His hardness at the ball is already a trademark and with the Crows hanging onto an 18-point lead in the third quarter, the 18-year-old took on arguably the League's most explosive player in Patrick Dangerfield.
Heads down and both charging into a contest, it was Dangerfield who came off second best and was forced to leave the ground with a bloodied nose.
The Power then kicked three consecutive goals to level the scores and didn't look back.
Hinkley said it was rare that a first-year player such as Wines would show such courage time and time again but he had seen it before.
"I was lucky enough to be at Geelong in 2007 when there was a young bloke coming in there that was pretty hard and is now captain of the club," Hinkley said.
"You know they're a bit rare, but Ollie works hard, he does his job, he's a first-year player who knows what he's got to do and he goes about doing it.
"Ollie's whole game was really impressive [on Sunday] as a first-year player."
Wines told AFL.com.au understanding his role in the side had been the key reason why his transition to the AFL had appeared so seamless.