Port Adelaide vice-captain Ollie Wines will return from an AFL suspension and play against Fremantle in Sunday’s fixture on the Gold Coast.

Wines missed round one as he recovered from shoulder surgery and then was suspended for round two for breaking the AFL’s coronavirus protocols.

Port coach Ken Hinkley says Wines will replace injured defender Ryan Burton.

“Ollie will be coming into the side, he’s a fantastic player for us and he makes us better,” Hinkley told reporters on Friday.

Wines played in a practice match last weekend, his first competitive game since having a shoulder reconstruction in late January.

“He was good, he did what we expected him to do – as he had done through the second pre-season, he had been really, really dominant at training,” Hinkley said.

“We hadn’t seen him play (this year), circumstances were taken out of our control a little bit.”

Burton, despite being expected to miss the next four matches because of a knee injury, was among 33 Port players who flew from Adelaide to the Gold Coast on Friday.

The Power will play their next three games in Queensland while being based at a Gold Coast golf resort, though that could change as the SA government has altered its travel restrictions.

People coming from Queensland to SA no longer have to spend 14 days in self-isolation, potentially giving Port the chance the fly in and out for games.

But Hinkley was more concerned with continuing Port’s momentum – they’re ladder leaders, unbeaten in two games.

“We’re not going to get distracted by anything other than we’re preparing to play footy,” he said.

“I’m not interested in what may or may not be. I’m interested in going up there to play footy and that’s all I can worry about.”