Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak expects confidence from derby win to charge Power with new momentum

PORT Adelaide skipper Travis Boak describes the Showdown win as a “big statement” that needs to echo in Shanghai against Gold Coast

PORT Adelaide captain Travis Boak feels his team made “a big statement” in winning Showdown 44 - and he wants to hear the echo in Shanghai tomorrow (Saturday) in an AFL game that carries enormous burdens on and off the field for the Power.

Boak wants the momentum created in the dramatic five-point win against the Crows to carry to China with a repeat victory against Gold Coast in the AFL’s only international match.

“It was a big statement that we needed to make - and showed us the type of footy we are capable of,” Boak said in Shanghai yesterday (Thursday).

“Now we have to make sure that football becomes consistent. There is a lot of belief there. If we keep producing that contested footy, we will match a lot of sides.”

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley is keeping his Showdown 22. Wingman Jared Polec yesterday (Thursday) joined his team-mates - after staying in Adelaide to confirm he was not suffering appendicitis - to give Hinkley no reason to change the derby line-up.

“Jared was a bit of a scare earlier in the week with some chance he may have had appendicitis, but he has got through that okay,” Hinkley said. “Injury - not much else - would change (the Showdown 22).”

The 22 will include match-breaking forward-midfielder Chad Wingard preparing to wear his normal short-sleeve jumper that will reveal his full-arm tattoos. Port Adelaide football chief Chris Davies said he has had no demand from the AFL to insist Power and Suns players cover up their skin art - at the request of Chinese television that will boost the audience for this match to a record 8-10 million.

Hinkley last night (Thursday) sent Melbourne recruit Jack Trengove and former Gold Coast defender Trent McKenzie to Shanghai Airport to make the return to Adelaide for the Magpies’ SANFL clash with West Adelaide on Sunday. He has kept forward-midfielder Karl Amon and former Melbourne midfielder Dom Barry here as emergencies in case there is an injury at training today (Friday) or illness.

Gold Coast Suns player Steven May, Gold Coast Suns coach Stuart Dew, Port Adelaide Power coach Ken Hinkley and Port Adelaide Power player Travis Boak speak to the media during a press conference. Picture: David Mariuz/AAP

Hinkley is challenging his team to prove it can deliver contested football - the key to last week ending a three-year losing streak to the Crows - against any opponent and at any venue, including Jiangwan Stadium in Shanghai.

“It is simple - we have to play the same style regardless of where we play; even in Shanghai we have to play the same style we show in Adelaide,” Hinkley said.

“The swing in contested football from (being labelled soft against West Coast) to the Showdown was enormous. If you are going to be successful in the AFL, you have to be able to play contested football.

“We know that. The boys, more importantly, know what last week was like - and now they have to do it again this week.

“They will move on (from the Showdown); they will be okay. Having come here Tuesday we’ve been away from the Adelaide bubble and been able to get on with the next game. Having the team altogether, really helps (focus on the Suns rather than be distracted by the fall-out of the Showdown.”

Port Adelaide will face its 2004 premiership hero Stuart Dew as a rival, commanding the Suns in his first season as an AFL coach. Hinkley expects Dew’s team to show “venom” to atone for last year’s 72-point loss in Shanghai.

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