News Rucci: Travis Boak may not renew contract at Port Adelaide

[bringbackbucky]

The age of the Cats list suggest they will head south and stay south for some time - Ablett's gone and Joel Corey is 30, Chapman 31, Scarlett 33, Corey Enright is 30, Josh Hunt is 30. Bartel and Johnson are 28.

Boak would help ease their slide down the ladder a bit, but not enough. They will need a big rebuild and are probably better off going to the draft.

Yeah I can't see how he fills a massive need for the Cats.

 

[Macca19]

Yep you did - he spent last week in Torquay with family and then returned to Adelaide with the team on Monday.

So where is this magical announcement that Boak or his manager said he will not be announcing till the end of the year?

Everyone seems to be basing this on a quoteless article written by a no name journalist. Considering how critical this is to our club, you'd think that Boak or his manager actually announcing this would make the papers with some sort of quote, or particularly make the website.

 

[MP_]

yeah its becoming a farce with all these articles filled with fluff and no substance

 

[5um0F1]

Yeah I can't see how he fills a massive need for the Cats.

Maybe Scott is using the Chocco school of coaching - finger in the dam band-aid fixes.
We can all see the cats are all but done (disclaimer: I know they will pump us hard next game but we are not exactly a yard stick)

 

[QPower]

So where is this magical announcement that Boak or his manager said he will not be announcing till the end of the year?

Everyone seems to be basing this on a quoteless article written by a no name journalist. Considering how critical this is to our club, you'd think that Boak or his manager actually announcing this would make the papers with some sort of quote, or particularly make the website.

I never suggested that Boak or manager said they will wait until the end of the year - point was he said all along he needed to speak to family - he did that last week and afterwards told Primus (See mid season PTV on website) he is still not sure and is still thinking about it i.e. needs more time.

 

[ash_78]

So where is this magical announcement that Boak or his manager said he will not be announcing till the end of the year?

Everyone seems to be basing this on a quoteless article written by a no name journalist. Considering how critical this is to our club, you'd think that Boak or his manager actually announcing this would make the papers with some sort of quote, or particularly make the website.

The entire story over the last month appears to have been written based on assumptions, which have driven more assumptions. Very few sources close to the facts have actually been quoted.

Normal journalistic standards don't seem to apply to the smaller clubs.

 

[Janus]

IF he goes, I'd want their compo pick and their first round pick and maybe a swap of second rounders.That would give us the top ten pick we are going to have anyway and a pick in the teens this draft. If Geelong were bad and had a top ten pick, they could get away with just giving us their second round pick. But they don't, so the compo pick is on the table.

Then we bundle the compo pick and something else next year to get Aish, 1) because he's a gun and 2) because the tears of the Crows would be epic.

That's how much I rate Travis as a player, and I sincerely hope that he doesn't go.

 

[LeoMessi]

With all our youth I would much rather a player than a pick that can't play until 2014!

And i've said that all along. Dont need these 17 yr olds who are out of whack with the 22 - 23 yr olds already seen as the future crop of the club.

But i think Boak needs to harden up a bit if he keeps using his family closeness as an excuse to wanting to go back to Victoria. Seriously, if he leaves, it won't be bc he wants to be close to his family but bc he's chasing a fasle hope of winning a flag with the Cats. Like Chachi11 said, he gets the chance to fly over to Vic almost on regular basis and gets great compensation in terms of his salary. It is time for him to harden up now.

 

[bomberclifford]

I never suggested that Boak or manager said they will wait until the end of the year - point was he said all along he needed to speak to family - he did that last week and afterwards told Primus (See mid season PTV on website) he is still not sure and is still thinking about it i.e. needs more time.

I watched that video and didn't get the same impression that you have.

What Primus actually said:

He knows where I sit - we want him here and we need him here,
He's going to play an important part of our future so he's well aware of that.
I've asked him 'Have you come up with a decision yet?' and he's really mulling it over with the family stuff.
We want to give him his time to do that, but we also don't want to allow it to drag on for another 10 or 12 weeks.

Nothing different from what Primus has said all along and no indication that Boak has delayed giving an answer, just that he's 'mulling it over'.

The problem with these things is that people over analyse each and every word and their inherent bias/disposition leads them to draw conclusions where there are none. The only conclusion that should be drawn here is that Boak has yet to inform Primus of his decision and that Primus doesn't want the process to drag out.

 

[Janus]

And i've said that all along. Dont need these 17 yr olds who are out of whack with the 22 - 23 yr olds already seen as the future crop of the club.

But i think Boak needs to harden up a bit if he keeps using his family closeness as an excuse to wanting to go back to Victoria. Seriously, if he leaves, it won't be bc he wants to be close to his family but bc he's chasing a fasle hope of winning a flag with the Cats. Like Chachi11 said, he gets the chance to fly over to Vic almost on regular basis and gets great compensation in terms of his salary. It is time for him to harden up now.

It's this sort of mentality that makes the team require a rebuild every ten years. If you recruit gun players that are all the same age...yeah, you'll get a premiership contender if they develop as projected, but then they'll all retire at the same time as well.

I'd rather a core nucleus of 22-23 year old players who will be the prime age of 26-28 when we are contending again, supported by a new batch of younger players that will be 22-23 at the same time. It's how you maintain consistency in performance - by constantly introducing new blood to the team so that we are NEVER in the position of being uncompetitive again.

 

[LeoMessi]

It's this sort of mentality that makes the team require a rebuild every ten years. If you recruit gun players that are all the same age...yeah, you'll get a premiership contender if they develop as projected, but then they'll all retire at the same time as well.

I'd rather a core nucleus of 22-23 year old players who will be the prime age of 26-28 when we are contending again, supported by a new batch of younger players that will be 22-23 at the same time. It's how you maintain consistency in performance - by constantly introducing new blood to the team so that we are NEVER in the position of being uncompetitive again.

It's the mentality that's been proven right all along unfortunately. If you're consistently going to finish at the top of the table for let's say 5-6 years, chances are the best talent in the draft pool will already be gone to the teams finishing at the bottom. You will need a very good recruiting agent at the club to identify the talent at those lower draft picks. Some might make it, most dont. Most will be solid contributors without being superstars. But they will never be the reason you will win a flag. We've seen it with Port, Brisbane Lions and now we're about to see it with Geelong. You can speak to anyone from Geelong and almost all will tell you that they're up and comers are even more exciting than what they currently have. But the truth of the matter is, we've already started to witness Geelongs slide down the table this year.

 

[FishingRick04]

So, uh, if you were Boak, and you wanted to stay - a 5 year contract that made you the highest paid player annually in the clubs history would be appealing, no?

just asking, hypothetically speaking of course

Your point is?

 

[PhoenixPower]

Your point is?

lets just say that what I thought would be appealing, apparently is not.....

read into that whatever you like

 

[bomberclifford]

lets just say that what I thought would be appealing, apparently is not.....
read into that whatever you like

Oh no.

 

[The Smaller Warrior]

lets just say that what I thought would be appealing, apparently is not.....

read into that whatever you like

You would have thought so wouldn't you.

 

[LeoMessi]

lets just say that what I thought would be appealing, apparently is not.....

read into that whatever you like

So the club offered him a 5 year deal and he has rejected it?

 

[Adz2332]

so hes turned down a 5 year, million dollar contract?
So hes gone?

 

[LeoMessi]

If he has, start looking at potential deals. Stop wasting time with him and stop playing him for the rest of the season.

 

[Honeyboy Wilson]

Stop asking for more details - you won't get any. Might as well just wait til whatever happens becomes official.

 

[reCOGnise]

Riddence i say. The Club, supporters everyone has made it quite clear that we think the world of him. If the feeling isn't mutual cya later.

Sad to think he will spend his whole career chasing the dream.

 

[Shaxx Attaxx]

Totally sucks, a real big blow. I wouldn't think a 5 year deal would appeal to a guy that brings up his family as an excuse every time his contracts is up.

It really makes you wonder how the hell Port can pick up the pieces and rebuild now. I have really lost hope right now.

 

[Janus]

I would think the five year deal would be rejected no matter how much money was offered. It's clear that Travis is all about family, and he doesn't want to be locked into a deal that makes it impossible for him to say "I'll be home next year" if something happens where his family wants him to move back home.

Time to trade him, I feel. Too destabilizing to the team to always have this "Will he, won't he?" drama which is based on external influences (family) rather than internal. Internal, we can fix, whether it's money/coaching/whatever. If he says, "I have no faith in Primus," or "I can get better money elsewhere," then it's OUR problem. But with the family hanging like the sword of Damocles above the team every time his contract is up? (Not a criticism of him, merely a statement of fact)

I was thinking maybe the best case was signing him for a couple more years, then trading him when his stock was at his highest - in the middle of his prime, back to Geelong who would have better picks to give up for him. But then I thought that it's probably better to trade him now and recruit players who only have their own lives to worry about. Not his fault, and I wish him all the best for his career, but ultimately, I want what is best for Port Adelaide.

 

[Adz2332]

if thats really the case time to send him back to the sanfl and leave him there!!
What a joke!!
Club is going backwards! Wonder what will happen to Gray when his time is up again!?

 

[simba_]

are we thinking this happened today? i thought he was spending this week/end with family in victoria to talk about a decision like this but i am not totally up to date.

 

[Butcher32]

Is there a source or all this is just speculation? i dont see a source anywhere.