The North Warrnambool Eagles’ vice-captain sustained serious burns to his face and upper torso after a metal drum he was cutting into with an angle grinder exploded last July.

But the 25-year-old hasn’t missed a beat.

North Warrnambool Eagles’ mentor Graeme Twaddle said Wines had barely missed a pre-season session and was firing early in the Hampden league season.

“He’s definitely an influential player for us,” Twaddle said.

“He’s very versatile. He can play as a deep forward, a high forward, and he has a very good contested mark.

“We can throw him through our midfield or we can put him back if we need to. He’s just a tremendous talent.”

Twaddle said Wines was among the leaders in the club best-and-fairest at the time of his burns.

“He was right up there with the leading goalkicker as well. He hasn’t missed much at all,” the experienced mentor said.

“He was back on the track with us when we started on November 15. It was a fantastic effort.”

Wines said he was relishing playing alongside a group of both new and core players.

“We’re a bit younger, but we’ve still got that good core of guys there,” he told The Standard.

“We had the first game back last week. The weather wasn’t much good, but we’ll be back again this week and have a go.”