Port Adelaide midfielder Ollie Wines believes his best football is yet to come as the Brownlow Medal winner looks to use an uninterrupted pre-season to help steer the Power to premiership contention in 2024.
Next year will be Wines' 12th season at Alberton and hopefully the first in three years where the 29-year-old isn't required to work through rehabilitation in the build-up to Round 1.
The past two off-seasons have seen the contested ball-winner spend an extended period of time in recovery from separate knee surgeries, with Wines finishing 2023 with a clean bill of health as the new year nears.
Wines played a career-high 25 games this year but saw his numbers take a hit as the likes of Connor Rozee and Zak Butters took control of Ken Hinkley's midfield.
For Wines, the Echuca junior is hoping to potentially go better than his medal-winning 2021 campaign next year after believing he 'let his teammates down' over the recent season.
"I'm going really well. It's the first off-season I've been able to run in two years off two knee surgeries," Wines to 7 News Adelaide.
Brownlow medallist Ollie Wines has told 7NEWS his best footy is still ahead of him. The 29-year-old believes he let Port Adelaide's next generation down in 2023 while he battled an ongoing knee injury. @theodrop @7AFL #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/ETgx8ARmAO
— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) November 7, 2023
"I'm only 29, so I think I've still got my best football ahead of me. With a pre-season and being healthy, I can really complement those guys.
"I felt as though I let them down a little bit not being able to bring what I bring to the team."
Wines will be in strong consideration for the captaincy role at Port Adelaide from 2024 after filling in for the at-times absent ex-skipper Tom Jonas this year.
The senior pair were two-thirds of the club's leadership group this year, which is likely to expand next season with the emergence of Rozee, Butters and All-Australian Dan Houston.
Rozee is viewed as the favourite to take on the leading role, with Wines understanding it won't matter who secures the captaincy as long as the squad remains focussed on its premiership pursuit.
"Whether that's me, whether that's someone else time will tell," Wines said of the captaincy vacancy.
"But I know at our club we've all got this common goal to win a premiership. Whatever needs to happen to make that happen, we're more than happy to go with that."
Wines is in reaching distance of becoming just the sixth Port Adelaide player to play in 250 AFL games next year, needing 22 more appearances to reach the milestone.
