Port Adelaide’s Ollie Wines has rejected rumours that a heart issue he suffered on Thursday against Melbourne was triggered by a Covid vaccination.

Wines left the game at half time after experiencing nausea and dizziness during and was taken to hospital.

There has been some speculation the issues may have been linked to myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle that can potentially be caused by an mRNA Covid-19 vaccine.

“It’s nothing to do with that. It’s completely unrelated,” Wines said on Monday.

“It’s more a heart rhythm issue that is pretty common in elderly people and elite athletes.

“Once it was explained to me it was very reassuring and there’s not too many long-term effects.

“The prognosis is really positive. I’ve got a few more tests to come and to see the cardiologist again but at this stage it’s not a big issue.”

The 2021 Brownlow Medallist said he would miss this weekend but hoped to return to playing soon.

“I’m 100 per-cent back to normal thanks to the staff at Calvary (Hospital) – the doctors and nurses really looked after me and I’m 100 percent fine,” Wines said.

“There were a few little issues but they’ve been rectified now.

“I’ll miss this week at this stage but there are some more tests to look into this week just to get a bit of an idea of a time frame but hopefully not too much footy.

“It was (a bit scary) during the game and then after the game when I went off to hospital and they rushed me off when they saw something was wrong, but the Calvary staff, the cardiologist and nurses there were so reassuring and really put my mind at ease.”

‘Slippery slope we’re caught in’

Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley believes the game has become “too soft” if Paddy Ryder is suspended over his collision with Will Day.

Buckley, speaking on SEN on Monday, said Day was responsible for his own injury due to bad technique.

Ryder will attract attention from the AFL Match Review Officer on Monday after his bump on Day forced the Hawthorn player to enter concussion protocols.

Coach Sam Mitchell told reporters post-game Day was “a bit battered, he‘s a bit sore and sorry for himself”. Saints coach Brett Ratten said Ryder’s bump “looked pretty fair” to him but would let the MRO process play out.

“They’ll say ‘what other options did he have’, (but) Will Day … I can’t believe a player can keep himself that open. I mean, there’s going to be contact and he just ran into him,” Buckley told SEN Breakfast.

“Paddy, he didn’t really run through him (Day) … This is what you see quite often when it comes to front-on contact or someone turns their body and braces for contact and the other one doesn’t.

“I fundamentally don’t believe in legislating against the worst-case scenario, or for potential injury – and that’s the slippery slope that we’ve got caught in. The game has got too soft if that’s a suspension.

“I understand (the concussion awareness) … but it’s not a non-contact game, it is not touch footy. We are going to have contact. It’s the medico, legal aspects of it that are under consideration consistently.”

Cripps sidelined with hammy injury

Carlton look set to be without Patrick Cripps for several weeks after he suffered a hamstring injury against Gold Coast.

Coach Michael Voss was hopeful it was not a significant tear, however.

“I think it’s only minor, but I’ve had scenarios before where you say that, and it turns out to be something else,” Voss said.

“We’ll just wait and find out and do the assessment as needed and make some calls on what happens from there.”

Gold Coast youngster Jack Lukosius appeared to suffer a knee injury late in the game.

Sydney’s Lance Franklin is also set for a stint on the sidelines after suffering a suspected broken finger during the Swans’ thrilling 11-point win over North Melbourne at the SCG on Saturday.

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

And Nic Naitanui has added to West Coast’s horror run with injury and COVID-19 dramas with the AFL star sidelined for several weeks because of a knee injury.

The Eagles revealed on Monday that the three-time All Australian ruckman hurt his knee late in Saturday’s upset win over Collingwood at Marvel Stadium.

In a major blow for West Coast they are not expecting him back until the second half of the season.

“Unfortunately yesterday after scans it’s revealed that Nic has injured the medial ligament in his knee,” football manager Gavin Bell said.

“Everything else around the knee seems fine, so we’ll take a really conservative approach with Nic.

“But we’re expecting to see him in the second half of the season.”

West Coast beat Collingwood despite having five of their top midfielders unavailable.

Coach Adam Simpson said post-match that they hope to regain Elliott Yeo, Luke Shuey and Tim Kelly for Friday night’s home match against Sydney.