Boak sets games record for Port Adelaide

PORT ADELAIDE celebrated Travis Boak’s club games record-breaking game in style, defeating Richmond at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

The Torquay product collected 28 disposals with nine kicks and 19 handballs before being chaired off at game’s end by team-mates Ollie Wines and Sam Powell-Pepper.

The 36-year-old midfielder played game 393, including 373 AFL games plus 20 pre-season games, to surpass Russell Ebert’s 40-year record.

The record included the club’s SANFL and AFL history as the Power entered the AFL in 1997.

The former Torquay Football Club junior shed light on his longevity in the game since debuting in 2007.

“I think the thing that I’ve started to learn, probably more so over the last four or five years, is I need to adapt and change,” he said.

“Understand where the game’s going, understand where I need to go, my body, my mind, whatever it is, what I did six, seven, eight years ago is different to what I need to do now.

“The mental challenge of it is different.”

The former Power captain, who was taken at pick 5 in the 2006 draft, has earned three All-Australian selections (2013, 2014, 2020) and two club best-and-fairests (2011, 2019), and was the Brownlow Medal runner-up in 2020.

Boak expressed his gratitude to those who have supported him across the journey.

“One thing I’ve learned, I think, over the past several years is that milestones aren’t about you, they’re about the people that help you get there,” he said.