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'As honest as the day is long': Wines family celebrates Ollie's Brownlow triumph
Tony and Jane Wines are the proudest parents in the land as they toasted son Ollie's victorious Brownlow Medal outing, paying tribute to the "gentleman warrior" from Echuca after he etched his name onto the AFL honour board.
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Wines took out the Brownlow by three votes ahead of Marcus Bontempelli on Sunday night - the first player from Port Adelaide and Echuca to win the award.
His parents watched on from his home town and the congratulations came thick and fast when Wines polled the necessary two votes in the final round to claim "Charlie."
“I reckon we had 200 text messages last night,” Tony said.
“I haven’t been able to respond to them all yet.”
As the thrilling vote count evolved in Perth, the Wines told The Riv they were split on Ollie's chances with a chasing pack of Bontempelli and former Echuca boy Clayton Oliver closing in.
“I said to Jane with three rounds to go he’s won this,” Tony said.
“I do my calculations,” Jane said.
“And I said he’ll be down by two – he won’t win it but he’ll come second.”
The "Vaccinator" as Jane was referred to by ABC's the Coodabeens, confirmed the calculator had been "thrown in the bin" after Ollie won in joint record-breaking fashion with 36 votes.
It's the equal-highest tally in the 3-2-1 format alongside fellow Bendigo Pioneers alumni Dustin Martin.
When the votes came through, the celebrations began in Echuca and North Melbourne, where Ollie's siblings Harry, Maddie and Sophie live.
From Echuca, to the Pioneers and on to Port Adelaide, Tony and Jane have ridden the bumps with their son from Under-12s to this year's Brownlow.
It is the man behind the footballer that they spoke of fondly this time, who gave a shout out to his family and the town of Echuca in his acceptance speech - one that impressed his father for its eloquence.
“His speech impressed me,” Tony said.
“To him it’s not an individual award.
“After getting beaten in the prelim I think it was a good tonic for the footy club and probably the whole Port Adelaide community.
“And he always gets a plug in for Echuca and the regional areas.
“Ollie is just as honest as the bloody day is long.
“They interviewed him on one of the Adelaide stations, and the bloke at the end of the interview said ‘if you opened your door and Oliver Wines was there to take your daughter out you would be pretty happy.’
“He wouldn’t speed in a car or go through a red light.”
Jane added: "They called him the ‘gentleman warrior’, which I liked.
“They played (his speech) again today, and I got a bit choked."
Since his debut back in 2013, Ollie has ticked off some prestigious accolades: All-Australian, rising star nomination, co-captaincy of Port Adelaide and now the AFL's highest individual honour.
For his father, there was no doubt to his ability, but it was not until after his debut game that he became fully aware of the heights his son would reach, especially in a tough industry such as the AFL.
“When you hear people say ‘he’ll play AFL football’, I laughed because I didn’t know Ollie would play AFL until his first game,” he said.
“Then we saw the result of (his debut) and we knew he was going to go all right.
The 26-year old's win, especially his late-season charge, is all the sweeter considering he was also harbouring a knee injury.
“No-one would know but he’s played the last 14 weeks with a knee (injury), and he’s going in for a clean out,” Tony said.
That's only the tip of the iceberg on the list of injuries the midfield bull has been forced to overcome.
“He’s had two shoulder reconstructions, multiple broken bones in the foot, tibia, hand,” Jane said.
“His nose is on a right angle; it’s been broken three times - he wasn’t born with that nose.”
During the journey, they've had to see their son overcome some tumultuous period of his career.
“Ollie’s had to earn it,” Jane said.
“That’s the biggest thing, he’s had to work hard. Mentally, he’s very tough.
“He’s had highs and low, injuries, he’s had the captaincy that knocked him around.
“But he’s driven – he’s so driven.
"Even when he was in Under-12s and Under-14s he was always a really good player; tough, strong, smart."
As for the medal, Tony says Ollie will "enjoy it and then put it away" before turning his focus to the ultimate prize; the premiership cup.
“Someone that interviewed him asked ‘where are you going to put the medal?’," Tony said.
“Ollie said ‘one of the boys said to me that my dog is missing his name tag, so we might inscribe the dogs name and put it on the collar'.”
Tony said he hoped the family would be able to gather and celebrate as soon as possible.