Counting down Port Adelaide’s 50 Greatest Players in club’s 150 years: those ranked 40-31

Four players from Port Adelaide’s AFL era feature in the latest instalment counting down the club’s 50 Greatest Players since 1870. There are also four ex-Port captains. See the interactive list.

Travis Boak is one of four Port captains to feature in this latest batch of Port’s top 50 rankings. Picture: Sarah Reed

• Port Adelaide’s 150 Greatest Players revealed
• How The Advertiser’s selection panel picked Port’s Greatest 150
• Getting the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription

Travis Boak has more chapters to add to his football story but he is already among the upper echelons of Port Adelaide stars in the club’s history.

Boak, a dual best and fairest, two-time All-Australian and former captain of six years, has been ranked 33rd in Port’s 150 Greatest Players from its 150 years.

The selection panel, featuring club greats Warren Tredrea, Brian Cunningham, Tim Ginever, Bob Philp, historian Mark Shephard, media manager Daniel Norton and The Advertiser reporter Matt Turner, has spent three months assessing the 1555 footballers to feature for Port since 1870 on their on-field performances, impact on success, selflessness, longevity, achievements and passion for the guernsey.

Port’s 150 Greatest Players was named a fortnight ago, before the top 50 countdown began last week with those ranked 50-41.

On Friday, advertiser.com.au is revealing the players from 40-31.

Boak is one of four Port captains in the latest group of 10.

The 31-year-old midfielder joined the Power via pick five at the 2006 draft, played in the club’s 2007 grand final loss to Geelong in his debut season, then became skipper from 2013 after rejecting the Cats’ advances to return home to Victoria.

Panel members believed Boak, who won Port’s best and fairest last year and in 2011, and was an All-Australian in 2013-14, had made an outstanding contribution.

“He’s been a bloody important leader in rebuilding the footy club, is selfless and the fans love him,” Tredrea said.

Turner added: “He captained Port after it was at its lowest ebb, helped get them back in the finals in 2013-14 and was runner-up best and fairest and an All-Australian in those years.”

Boak’s standing among the Port greats may be even higher by the time he retires.

Last month he re-signed until the end of the 2022 campaign and if he could help the Power win a premiership before bowing out, that would add significantly to his legacy.

As it stands, he is the top-ranked player on the list without a premiership medal.

Matthew Primus was picked one spot back at 34 and, like Boak and Josh Francou (44), would almost certainly be higher if he had won a flag.

Primus skippered Port from 2001-05, but missed all bar one game of the 2004 season, including the grand final victory over Brisbane, due to an ACL injury.

The ruckman was an All-Australian in 2001 and 2002, winning the best and fairest after that latter campaign.

Cunningham called Primus “one of our great leaders”.

Tredrea said Primus was the best ruckman in the competition for two years and teammates gave everything trying to win for him.

“If you talk about impact, he didn’t play in the premiership, but he attended every training session as captain and his performances on the field were ruthless,” he said.

The other two former skippers in these latest rankings are 1890-98 captain Ken McKenzie (31) and 1948 leader Lew Roberts (32).

“McKenzie is one of the longest serving captains in the club’s history … and captained two premierships, as well as the team that was Champions of Australia in 1890,” Shephard said.

One of Roberts’s former teammates, Bob McLean, was ranked at 40.

“Big Bob” became a legendary Port administrator who oversaw 14 premierships from 1949-81 but Shephard believed McLean’s playing ability was underestimated.

“He had this sheer size and presence, linked with ‘Bull’ Reval and Bob Quinn in one of the greatest rucking combinations in history and was prominent as a ruck-forward, where he topped Port’s goalkicking four times,” he said.

Another standout big man, Brendon Lade, was selected at 39.

“His longevity was very good for a ruckman and he had his injuries too,” Tredrea said.
“His impact on the premiership was huge, not just from a leadership perspective but he played with a stress fracture in his back.

“He was right up there with the most selfless player I played with.”

Lade’s 2004 premiership teammate, Peter Burgoyne, comes in at 35.

Tredrea said Burgoyne “went into orbit” as a midfielder following Nick Stevens’ departure at the end of the 2003 campaign.

“He was the main man in the middle every week, then in 2007, when we got to a grand final, he was a quarterback off half-back,” he said.

“He took the game on and was tough.”

Ranked between Lade and Burgoyne are premiership stars from three different eras – versatile 1950s and ‘60s high flyer Peter Obst (38), evergreen 1980s and ‘90s centre half-forward Darren Smith (37) and popular ‘70s wingman Bruce Light (36).

The panel judged those among the 150 on their playing contributions to Port, not what they have done at other clubs, or as coaches or administrators.

When Tredrea, Cunningham, Ginever and Philp’s names have been discussed, they have left the room and virtual meetings.

Shephard has brought vital knowledge and statistics on the club’s earliest stars, although their cases have been difficult to gauge due to no one on the panel having seen them play and limited information about their careers.

Comparing eras, let alone players, is tricky but with the club believing the 2004 premiership is the pinnacle in it history, that has been taken into account.

Next week we will reveal the players ranked 21-30.

Originally published as Counting down Port Adelaide’s 50 Greatest Players in club’s 150 years: those ranked 40-31