AFL 2020: Port Adelaide star Travis Boak is in rare form but even he concedes the Brownlow race is over.
Port Adelaide star Travis Boak is feeling better now than the star of the season and on the third line of betting for the Brownlow medal. But he says the race is over.
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Port Adelaide star Travis Boak is feeling better now than the star of the season and playing so well he’s on the third line of betting for the Brownlow medal.
Unfortunately that still puts him at double-figure odds while Brisbane ball-magnet Lachie Neale has been wound in to a $1.60 favourite with seven rounds of the season to go.
Boak, who is also third in the AFL Coaches Association MVP voting after a stunning 2020, said he wasn’t even thinking about catching Neale, and wouldn’t get distracted by the outside “noise” as he plots a path to a Port premiership.
“I don’t think anyone could catch him. I reckon he could stop now and he’s got it done,” Boak said on Wednesday.
“You hear a lot of the outside noise and you can kind of fall in to it and listen to it, because there is good stuff and bad stuff always out there. But the reality is none of it is true and you have to worry about what you can control.
“You have to focus on the process, and that’s really what I have been doing the last couple of years, the process of what makes my game good, and whatever chat there is, good or bad, outside of that is none of my business.”
Staying in the best possible shape, given the extra challenges of the “footy frenzy”, which includes taking on Geelong this Friday, has been Boak’s business, and something he had put major thought in to.
After a best-and-fairest winning season last year, Boak has worked out the nuances of getting the most out of himself every week, whether it be off a four, five or six day break.
“My body is probably feeling better now than it did at the start of the season,” he said. .
“It just means a lot more recovery, a lot more time in the ocean and ice baths and that sort of stuff. It’s kind of an exciting challenge for our playing group.
“We are so used to six, seven day breaks and the routine of that, you don’t know what your body can do off the shorter turnaround and it shows the body can handle a lot and the shorter breaks as long as you manage yourself right.”
Nobody has embraced the challenge of the AFL's condensed fixture more than Travis Boak, who says his body feels even better now than at the start of the season 🤯#weareportadelaide https://t.co/XhSGE5Vtqw
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) August 12, 2020
Boak was an advocate for putting the season on fast forward in future years, if only in small doses.
“I don’t think it could last all season. It could be something that goes in to the fixture in small parts,” he said.
“We’ve seen a lot of injuries and there’s probably guys resting as well. But it’s quite fun if you can do it in small doses.”
Boak said Steven Motlop could come in to contention for the clash against the Cats after completing training on Wednesday, but he wasn’t so sure about Connor Rozee who has a heel issue.
With talk swirling about a new contract for coach Ken Hinkley, Boak had nothing but praise for the “love” the players had for their boss.
“Kenny has been huge and I can’t speak highly enough for what he has been able to do for this group,” he said.
“We’ve seen a lot more this year how much Ken means to this playing group ... and justy how much the club means to him is pretty special. I’d love to play under him for a lot longer.”
Originally published as AFL 2020: Port Adelaide star Travis Boak is in rare form but even he concedes the Brownlow race is over.