Captaincy debate could have Travis Boak and Taylor Walker shake hands for last time as Showdown captains
TRAVIS Boak and Taylor Walker will lead Port Adelaide and the Crows respectively to Showdown 45 on Saturday - but will they have the same roles for the 46th derby next year?
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IS SATURDAY - in Showdown 45 - the last time we see Travis Boak and Taylor Walker shake hands as AFL captains in the SA derby?
There is a fascination today - for differing reasons - with the captaincy at the two SA-based AFL clubs. In some ways, it is a by product of a fast-paced AFL system that never allows the ink to dry on one story before the next is being written.
At Port Adelaide, public debate on Boak’s tenure as captain was created by the inevitable interest in vice-captain Ollie Wines’ decision with a new contract this season. And he does carry the tag of “future Power captain”.
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Boak has had the Port Adelaide captaincy since 2013. He celebrated his 30th birthday on Wednesday - and he can proudly declare he has played his significant role in making the Port Adelaide Football Club a better place since taking on the leadership role in those dark hours at Alberton at the end of 2012.
Boak’s response a fortnight ago to the question on his future as Port Adelaide captain was true to his wish to have every Power player put club before self-interest. He does not own the captaincy, even though he has held it longer than any other Power player.
He accepts he has been asked by hus club to lead - and Port Adelaide could easily ask someone else in 2013. And it is not just Wines who could be his successor.
“It is about having the best person for the job as captain,” Boak told The Advertiser.
“The captain at the moment is me – and it has been for six years with fantastic support.
“If it is Ollie next year or Charlie Dixon or Tom Jonas, whoever it is as Port Adelaide captain, it’s no worries (with me) … we are about a leadership group who lead together.”
Questions on Walker’s status as Adelaide captain are more intriguing. He has had the role for just four years. He has been hailed by his peers - from the AFL Players’ Association vote - as the league’s best captain for two consecutive years. He is 28 - and still publicly hailed by his team-mates as a leader.
Yet, there is this eagerness to re-establish Rory Sloane as captain, as he was at Adelaide with Patrick Dangerfield in 2014 when Nathan van Berlo was sidelined by a foot injury.
Inaugural Crows coach Graham Cornes joined the debate on Monday when he told radio FIVEaa: “I don’t think there’s any doubt there will be a change to the Crows captaincy at the end of the year. I just think it’s time.”
Walker would argue differently - as he did at the Showdown captains’ call on Tuesday. In contrast to Boak’s tone, Walker was portrayed as defiant by saying: “I am going to be a Crow for life and if I can continue to be captain for as long as I can then I will keep putting my hand up.’’
There is an interesting quote from American college basketball coach Don Meyer: “You can pick captains, but you can’t pick leaders. Whoever controls the locker room controls the team.”
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