Ollie Wines' huge show of faith in Rozee's captaincy amidst leadership queries

Port Adelaide midfielder and former captain Ollie Wines has reaffirmed current skipper Connor Rozee’s ability to lead the side following their disappointing Qualifying Final loss to Geelong.

Following the 24-year-old’s underperformance in the Power’s 84-point loss, questions were called regarding Rozee’s leadership, debating whether the youngest captain in the club’s history is capable of leading the side through September.

Wines, who captained the Power in 2019, was quick to support Rozee, reaffirming the midfielder’s influence on the club.

“He’s been an incredible leader this year,” Wines told SEN SA Breakfast.

“To finish off the year 8-1, a big part of that was his leadership and leading the group in the direction we wanted to so, Connor had a quiet night the other night but that’s a minor little blimp on his radar.

“At 24, for him to be doing what he’s doing and leading an AFL club, it’s no mean feat.

“We love Connor and everything he does, he’s able to focus on his footy this week and his leadership is almost natural now, so I don’t think it’s right in being questioned.

“He’s done an incredible job this year and I’m loving standing behind him.”

Heading into their contest with the Hawks, Wines is determined that Port Adelaide will not stray from their game style, sticking to their established game style despite the side’s inability to compete with Geelong.

“Our priority is to focus on how we want to play and what we want to do,” he continued.

“That’s really beneficial for the outcome but you’ve got to understand what a team is trying to do to stop that so, they are a unique team, they love taking the game on, they take any risk to get the ball forward and they’ve got the dynamic about their list to do that.

“You’ve got some strong talls that are able to get the ball to ground and they’ve got a lot of smalls who are quick and explosive so there certainly is a balance, we’ve had a good look at them, and we sort of know what they’re going to bring at us.

"But from this point onwards we’ll focus on what makes us a good team and what makes us win.”

Port Adelaide’s Semi-Final contest with the Hawks kicks off this Friday night.