PORT Adelaide captain Travis Boak's singlehandedly changed the course of Saturday's game against Melbourne, and perhaps his side's season, according to coach Ken Hinkley.
The Power booted 17 goals to the Demons' five after they trailed by 12 points at quarter-time, and as much as 24 in the second term, to charge away with a 61-point victory in front of a crowd of 4,866 at TIO Traeger Park Oval in Alice Springs.
Hinkley was adamant the turnaround started with Boak
"Our captain took control. I was really proud of Travis," Hinkley said in his post-match press conference.
"He went to (Melbourne captain) Nathan Jones who'd had 11 (disposals) in the first quarter.
"It was captain against captain and we said to him 'let's see if you can push your team over the line.'"
Boak gathered an equal game-high 31 disposals (18 contested), as well as eight clearances and played an influential role around stoppages.
The Port skipper led a dominant midfield, which included outstanding contributions from Brad Ebert (32 disposals, nine clearances and seven inside 50s), Ollie Wines (29 touches and six inside 50s) and Robbie Gray (26 and eight clearances).
"When you lead from the top, it's a great spot to start. Then the other boys like Ollie, Brad, Robbie, the forwards and the backs all join in; but they had a symbolic person up front saying, 'this is the way we're going to play,' Hinkley said.
"I thought Travis' game was significant and symbolic about what we're prepared to do to get our season back on track," Hinkley said.
However, the Power coach stopped short of declaring his side was back to where it needed to be as it tries to correct its shaky start to the season.
The Power broke their run of three consecutive losses and now are in a much better position with a win-loss record of 4-5 to climb their way back up the ladder.
"We've still got work to do," Hinkley said.
"The season's even though. If you can get on a run and win four or five or six games, you can put yourself in a pretty good position.
"But we've just concentrate on one game. For us we've got to focus on next week where we go back to Adelaide Oval and get all of our fans to get along.
"They've stuck pretty strong with us in this little trot that we've been in."
Hinkley said ruckman Patrick Ryder was touch and go for next Saturday night's clash against the Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval.
"Not sure. We won't take a risk with Paddy. He's got a sore Achilles. If there's any risk, he won't play," Hinkley said
"We'll make sure that we look after him. It's a pretty simple injury if we protect it now and do the right thing, he'll be ready for the rest of the season when we do get him back."
