Port’s Boak rallies his AFL leaders

Captain Travis Boak has put the heat on Port Adelaide’s leadership group to shake the club from its AFL lethargy.

The Power’s win-loss ledger is square but both losses have been rated by coach Ken Hinkley as the worst in his tenure.

Boak said a response to Sunday’s record 86-point loss to GWS was up to the club’s core.

“That starts with our senior group. And that starts with me,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“We need a huge effort from our senior players and our core leaders and the rest of the group flows from that.

“You can’t go blaming young guys who have come to the side one or two years in. They have got to have direction from their senior players.”

Boak, tracking a below-average 20 disposals a game, accepted some of the blame for Port’s concerns ahead of hosting Geelong on Saturday night.

“My body is the best it has felt in a long time but my form is nowhere near where it needs to be,” he said.

“And I need to accept that.”

The Power skipper said he was puzzled why Port’s wins had been punctuated by a 58-point defeat to Adelaide and last week’s heavy loss to the Giants.

“It’s probably why we have been inconsistent: because we haven’t been able to put our finger on it,” Boak said.

“And really, the simple answer is it shouldn’t be like that.

“There’s probably different reasons but there are certain standards we need to accept and, right now, it has been too inconsistent.”

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