Port skipper's in a new league now

New Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak. Picture: Matt Turner Source: The Advertiser

IT SUNK in for Travis Boak during a promotional photo shoot of all the captains.

He had faced a large press conference at Alberton when he became the club's fifth AFL captain behind Gavin Wanganeen, Matthew Primus, Warren Tredrea and Dom Cassisi.

On that day, he also had to begin to get accustomed to being the face of the club in various promotional material and deal with countless interview requests.

"I knew it was going to be full-on and the first three or four weeks were pretty full-on, before the season started," Boak said.

"But I'm really enjoying it.

"I've had great support from (vice-captain) Brad (Ebert) and the rest of the leadership group and I'm really looking forward to getting out there on Sunday and just leading the boys."

Boak settled in. But the magnitude of the appointment struck him when he went to Melbourne to spend time with the other 17 captains.

His appointment had been logical - he and Ebert had been outstanding over summer, Cassisi felt the time was right to hand over the leadership and assist, and it was a symbol of the revival at Alberton.

But among the other captains, he had to ask himself - do I belong here?

"It was probably a bit daunting, walking around with some big names with (St Kilda captain Nick) Riewoldt and (Hawthorn captain Luke) Hodge and those sort of guys there," Boak said.

"But I felt really comfortable. They were some great guys and I'm sure I'm going to learn a lot off them.

"I'll probably speak to them at regular functions but I'll also learn a lot off these guys at the club."

The way Boak sees it, his appointment will not lead to radical change at Port. He will seek out Cassisi's counsel on a regular basis and he predicted his leadership would be similar - he will seek to lead by example rather than words.

Some work has been done in projecting his voice better but, like Cassisi, he will lean on others in the leadership group for the verbal sprays. Cassisi had Dean Brogan and Chad Cornes as the loud voices at gatherings, Boak will have Jackson Trengove and Jay Schulz.

"I'm probably pretty similar (to Cassisi)," Boak said. "I've never been really outgoing and loud and we've got guys who do that - we've got Schulzy and Jacko who are pretty vocal and pump up guys.

"I'll continue to just do the things that have got me here today and the rest of the leadership group bring their own quality attributes. That's sort of how we'll go about it. We'll lead the club as one whole group; it won't just be one player."

But Boak knows that as he settles into the role, he will be expected to shoulder a heavier load as the club seeks to advance itself in new markets.

Part of it will be straight-forward promotional work, but he also tipped there would be times when he had to carry the can for the club in off-field debates and issues.

"That will probably come and I've enjoyed it so far," Boak said.

"There's probably going to be different sort of functions that I have to go to and I'll just take that as it comes.

"I'll probably speak to Dom about it all, which I've done so far, about what sort of things the club needs. I'll speak to Kochie (David Koch, president) and Ken (Hinkley, coach) and these sort of guys as well.

"I'm enjoying it so far."

For Port, this season is about winning back respect, a commodity that the club was flush with when it entered the AFL but has since frittered away after losing its way both on and off the field. To Boak, it comes back to basics - a commitment to physical football built on a fitness base restored by internationally respected fitness coach Darren Burgess.

"We're just going to go in and focus on what's worked for us over the last two or three weeks," Boak said.

"We've got to go in and earn the respect back from the competition and we do that by the physicality, tackling and hunting of the ball.

"And getting the win.

"I think there's a lot of confidence there and I think we've worked at a lot of parts of our game that weren't there last year.

"The whole defensive side has taken a step up and we've got to continue that if we want to be a good side. Most of the top-four, top-eight sides are really great defensive sides and that's what we've got to focus on."

Boak warned against being seduced by the club's outstanding pre-season, which included wins over premiership contenders Sydney and West Coast.

But there was a sense of renewed confidence as the club is preparing for Sunday's round one match against Melbourne at the MCG.

"It doesn't matter what you do in the pre-season - it doesn't count for any points," Boak said. "We can go in confident that we've done the work.

"But it all starts now."

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Port skipper's in a new league now

Dengan url

http://astagaberita.blogspot.com/2013/03/port-skippers-in-new-league-now.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Port skipper's in a new league now

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Port skipper's in a new league now

sebagai sumbernya