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

[Hardcore]

If he stays he will be seen as a bloke that had stuck to his word despite all the speculation that has gone on and he will be put in a very good light, but if he goes i think it will be based not as much on family but more on the club aspect and it will be pretty average turn around from his comments at the start of the year.

 

[Schulzenfest]

but if he goes i think it will be based not as much on family but more on the club aspect

Honestly, if he wants to go to Geelong looking for more success he's an idiot. They're a team full of rapidly ageing stars who are only sitting about 7th, with Selwood, Hawkins, Varcoe, Christensen, Motlop and maybe Duncan their only really impressive players who are 24 or younger. It'll only go downhill from here. If he goes for that reason, then I'm sure he'll experience all the success that Nick Stevens did.

 

[tribey]

If he stays he will be seen as a bloke that had stuck to his word despite all the speculation that has gone on and he will be put in a very good light, but if he goes i think it will be based not as much on family but more on the club aspect and it will be pretty average turn around from his comments at the start of the year.

The club has a responsibility to its players as well.

The reality is, we haven't developed a genuine A-Grader in at least 5 years which has been reflected by what will be our fifth consecutive season without finals or a solitary player deemed worthy of the All-Australian nominee squad let alone the final team.

If you're wavering about going back home and there's already an enormous pull-factor such as your widowed mother and younger sister, the position we're currently in hardly represents a counterweight. Sure we've got a young squad but so does everyone else and while the exciting new era of Adelaide Oval is on the horizon, it's still 18 months away.

 

[Schulzenfest]

The reality is, we haven't developed a genuine A-Grader in at least 5 years which has been reflected by what will be our fifth consecutive season without finals or a solitary player deemed worthy of the All-Australian nominee squad let alone the final team.

While I agree with your point, if Schulz or Surjan were playing for Carlton or Essendon I'd give them a very good chance of at least making the squad.

 

[tribey]

While I agree with your point, if Schulz or Surjan were playing for Carlton or Essendon I'd give them a very good chance of at least making the squad.

If Schulz played for Carlton and stayed fit they'd probably win the flag. #perfectfit #hellbelowzero

 

[Shaxx Attaxx]

I wish him as much success as Josh Carr and Nick Stevens got when they left. If he leaves Port then they need to forget about what Boak wants and trade him to whoever gives as the better deal. I can't see who we would actually want from their side.

 

[PhoenixPower]

SEN have mentioned the 5 year thing also twice this morning....

not sure if he would turn it down because hes looking for a shorter deal or because he doesnt want any deal?

adds fuel to it all

 

[finbarr]

Yeah, I just don't really buy the "family reasons" excuse. He's not happy with his lack of development and wants to play finals. Thats my belief anyway. All his positive talk at the start of the year about wanting to win a premiership at Port Adelaide was based on the positive vibe around the club at the time and the more than solid pre-season had by all. When everything at the club started heading south again I think Boak had a big re-evaluation of things.

The "family" thing just provides him with an easy out.

 

[year of the cat]

I'd go a little easy on Travis. As someone who also lost their father at a similar age to Travis (23) i can understand his wish to get back home to his family. I think being a son you feel a sense of duty to "step up" and take care of the rest of your family. I don't think you can begrudge him that opportunity. Assuming the speculation is correct hopefully the 2 clubs can reach an amicable and equitable trade.

 

[tribey]

Yeah, I just don't really buy the "family reasons" excuse. He's not happy with his lack of development and wants to play finals. Thats my belief anyway.His positive talk at the start of the year about wanting to win a premiership at Port Adelaide was based on the positive vibe around the club at the time and the more than solid pre-season had by all. When everything at the club started heading south again I think Boak had a big re-evaluation of things.

The "family" thing just provides him with an easy out.

Yep.

Let's face it, if you had no emotional connection to Port Adelaide beyond your interpersonal relationships, why would you stay?

I can't imagine I'd have stayed at Fremantle circa 2001-2 if all I had keeping me there was a handful of mates and good surf.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Not believing that he'll stay or writing him off until Boak himself or somebody at the club makes it official. I'd rather trade him than put him on a million dollar 5 year contract TBH. With that kind of money we could probably get a free agent who's better than Boak.



Don't be ridiculous Ford. You're understating the intelligence of people on team boards and the Drafts & Trading board.

It'd be Jesse Stringer and a third rounder. You know, because 2 things are always better than 1 thing.

That Falcon looks like a pretty good deal.

 

[Schulzenfest]

Yeah, I just don't really buy the "family reasons" excuse. He's not happy with his lack of development and wants to play finals. Thats my belief anyway. All his positive talk at the start of the year about wanting to win a premiership at Port Adelaide was based on the positive vibe around the club at the time and the more than solid pre-season had by all. When everything at the club started heading south again I think Boak had a big re-evaluation of things.

The "family" thing just provides him with an easy out.

Let's be honest, we have no idea what's going through Boak's mind right now. The only person who knows what's going through Boak's mind is Boak. I don't see the point in judging him on competing considerations that we couldn't possibly know, especially when for all we know he's going to sign a shorter deal after the bye.

And TBH, we're in a better spot right now than I expected us to be at the start of the year, so if Travis is making his decision on the basis that we've gone downhill then he's a more optimistic man than I am.

 

[Oliver King]

I just hope that if Boak leaves due to lack of development, etc, that he will let that be known to people who have the power (or should say 'are willing/able') to make a positive change off-field at our club.

 

[Eddie Dingle]

Yep.

Let's face it, if you had no emotional connection to Port Adelaide beyond your interpersonal relationships, why would you stay?

I can't imagine I'd have stayed at Fremantle circa 2001-2 if all I had keeping me there was a handful of mates and good surf.

Jeff Spicoli and I disagree, as Jeff once said, and I quote, " All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine. "

 

[Janus]

Yep.

Let's face it, if you had no emotional connection to Port Adelaide beyond your interpersonal relationships, why would you stay?

I can't imagine I'd have stayed at Fremantle circa 2001-2 if all I had keeping me there was a handful of mates and good surf.

That's why he wants to know if Primus will still be coach next year, since it's clear he is coaching to save his job by selecting guys like Logan and Brett Ebert. He's probably thinking "I went away and did an intense week to present myself at the start of the season like a professional should, and you're swanning around in the coaching box not having learned ANYTHING from last year."

If we were steadily improving, you might see a reason to stick around. But we seem to be stagnating, and the fish rots at the head with his baseless selections.

 

[Shaxx Attaxx]

I'd go a little easy on Travis. As someone who also lost their father at a similar age to Travis (23) i can understand his wish to get back home to his family. I think being a son you feel a sense of duty to "step up" and take care of the rest of your family. I don't think you can begrudge him that opportunity. Assuming the speculation is correct hopefully the 2 clubs can reach an amicable and equitable trade.

Take it easy on Travis? Not hard for a Geelong supporter to say that right now hey.
I like how Some Geelong supporters empathize with us. Yeah poor guys losing ablett, they sure sucked without him

 

[Schulzenfest]

Potential positive if he goes: Rhode apologists will stop banging on about how he signed up everyone we wanted to keep (except Burgoyne and Krakouer), especially considering his dumb negotiation move of offering Boak a 5-year deal when somebody like him was clearly never going to take it. Doubt it'll help Boak's relationship with the club that Rhode made such a massive miscalculation of Boak's interests.

 

[hbk_aus]

Take it easy on Travis? Not hard for a Geelong supporter to say that right now hey.
I like how Some Geelong supporters empathize with us. Yeah poor guys losing ablett, they sure sucked without him

We do empathize. But if the Ablett thing shows anything, it shows that one player, as good as he is, doesnt make a team.

 

[b0ydman]

I hope he stops reading at page 35- the comments are just silly and bitter- he hasn't made a decision that we are aware of or anyone else is aware of

i am sure that within 10 minutes of making a decision he'd tell Primus and the club would already have a contingency reaction to get it out there as quickly as possible to manage damage.

im also sure geelong would pay on the money or he wouldnt leave. i dont believe he is a mercenary and would only go to geelong if it wasnt detrmintal to us (beyond losing him)

ive never rated him as a workhorse i think Brad Ebert has more impact. He's played the occasional good amazing games for us. If he were draft pick #37 we wouldn't even be having this discussin there would be 20 pages and we'd take anything pick 10-20 for him

 

[YoungsterPA]

I still believe he will sign

 

[Shaxx Attaxx]

We do empathize. But if the Ablett thing shows anything, it shows that one player, as good as he is, doesnt make a team.

Fair call. At least you guys have a never ending list of stars to take of from Ablett. This is not a luxury we have, we are absolutely screwed for talent. Thank god Ebert came over and Broadbent has stepped up, but other than that we have no one. Some dark days ahead if he goes.

 

[manureid]

Yeah, I just don't really buy the "family reasons" excuse. He's not happy with his lack of development and wants to play finals. Thats my belief anyway. All his positive talk at the start of the year about wanting to win a premiership at Port Adelaide was based on the positive vibe around the club at the time and the more than solid pre-season had by all. When everything at the club started heading south again I think Boak had a big re-evaluation of things.

The "family" thing just provides him with an easy out.

Nail, hammer, head....to be honest....the way things are going at the moment, and have done, could you blame him. I would probably want out. Sad, but true.

 

[b0ydman]

We do empathize. But if the Ablett thing shows anything, it shows that one player, as good as he is, doesnt make a team.

no, it shows that good players play well in sh*t teams too
we on the other hgand make excuses for every player
"If he played for collingwood he'd be a star"
we then do that for 15 players

Ablett has more hunger than 90% of the players in our team.
ablett shows that if it weren't for him the team would lose by more than it does
Who was our Ablett when they BEAT us when we played them last year?
Or do you think it was the team that got them over the line?

 

[Forzaport]

Yeah, I just don't really buy the "family reasons" excuse. He's not happy with his lack of development and wants to play finals. Thats my belief anyway. All his positive talk at the start of the year about wanting to win a premiership at Port Adelaide was based on the positive vibe around the club at the time and the more than solid pre-season had by all. When everything at the club started heading south again I think Boak had a big re-evaluation of things.

The "family" thing just provides him with an easy out.

I don't buy it either. Even if that was true, it wouldn't make sense to seek a trade to Geelong. Any trade to Geelong would surely be based on family and not football glory. As it is, I don't buy the 'talk to family' nonesense. It's not like his family are only contactable 1 month a year when his contract is up for renewal. We do live in the age of mobile phones/skype/facebook/twitter and he travels to Melbourne regularly during the season. If his mother & sisters truly wanted him home he could've sought a trade at the end of last year or at any point in the last 5 years. I don't begrudge him if he goes home for family reasons but playing charades (if this was the case) really isn't necessary.

If he isn't happy with Port's development and off-field drama (and I really wouldn't blame him if this was the case) then he should be seeking a trade to Collingwood or Essendon.

 

[klem22]

All the signs are there that he will be leaving IMO