Port Adelaide skipper Travis Boak says he has ‘never seen a closer group’ than Power team

PORT Adelaide captain Travis Boak says he has never led a tighter-knit player group — and his vice-captain Hamish Hartlett adds the Power will not be torn apart.

Port Adelaide Peter Badcoe Medal

• Is Port tearing apart from within?

PORT Adelaide captain Travis Boak says he has never led a tighter-knit player group — and his vice-captain Hamish Hartlett adds the Power will not be torn apart.

“A lot of people want to rip us apart,” Hartlett told The Advertiser on Monday. “And it is not going to happen.

“Coaches, players, this club in total, we are going to stick together.”

And as Boak and Hartlett today dismissed claims of player disharmony at Alberton — generated by unsubstantiated and incorrect stories of the skipper and vice-captain being at odds — Boak declared: “I have never seen a closer group.

“We have been through a lot — a lot, be it having the club smashed; losing (teammate) John McCarthy (in an end-of-season accident in Las Vegas) and the death of Phil Walsh. And we are not going to be derailed by outside noise.”

This includes the claims of a fallout between Boak and his new vice-captain Hartlett or Boak supposedly taking on club president David Koch for his outspoken commentary on the Power’s on-field results, in particular the record 86-point loss to Greater Western Sydney.

Koch responded to Power fans on Twitter, saying the collapse to the Giants was a “disgrace” and tough questions needed to be asked and answered at Alberton.

“We understand David is an extremely passionate Port Adelaide man — and he also is in the media where he is going to need to make comments,” Boak said.

“We’re big enough to accept what criticism comes of the way we play — we understand that comes with the way we played.

“We have a great relationship with Kochy. He has been very supportive of us; he has done great things for the club. It is not an issue.”

At 2-3 — with inconsistent results and heavy losses to Adelaide in Showdown 40 and to the Giants — the Power has had its credibility as an AFL finals contender and top-four challenger trashed.

The challenging review of the 48-point loss to Geelong at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night has left Boak and his players with much to deliver as a response against Richmond at the MCG on Saturday night.

“And the only way out is to fight — and we will continue to fight,” Boak said. “We live to a mantra — ‘We will never, ever give up’.

“That not only applies in games. It also means we will never, ever give up on a season. We will keep fighting.

“Our review today shows we played very good football for 45 minutes of the game against Geelong. That (five-goal start while holding the Cats to one goal) was exactly the football expected from us.

“But it was just for 45 minutes.

“We are not going to win games by playing just 45 minutes of football. We have to deliver that style for a full game — and consistently from game to game. We have to hold to that game under pressure.

“We took big steps in those first 45 minutes. Now we need to take those steps for longer in a game. And we know where we need to improve.

“And we will do it because we intend to keep fighting.”

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