WATCH Matt Primus and Troy Chaplin speak after the match on PTV above. Can't view the video? Watch on YouTube
PORT Adelaide midfielder Travis Boak may have been best afield against the Suns on Saturday, but his coach already knew how important the player has become to the club.
Boak's future at Port has been the subject of much scrutiny and is sure to come under even more intense interest following his 28 disposals and three goals against Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium.
Coach Matthew Primus said the midfielder was an integral part of Port Adelaide's mini-revival in the past two weeks, and remained a key part of the Power's future.
"Today didn't have to reinforce how important he is, I think we know that," Primus said.
"He's getting to that stage where he is a bonafide great midfielder for us and he's pretty crucial to our ongoing success."
[ Video: Match highlights ]
Defender Troy Chaplin said the playing group was mindful of Boak's situation but was leaving any decision about his future to the player himself.
"We don’t want to cloud his judgment," Chaplin said.
"The guys aren’t going to put any pressure on that decision.
"We really can’t do much about it ... it's his decision. We're just glad he's playing some really good football at the moment because he's so important for us.
[ Video: The boys sing the song ]
Chaplin said Boak was a key figure in Port Adelaide's quest to win back respect after some lean seasons.
"He's an integral part of that. He understands that and we're looking forward to having him here for many years to come," he said.
Boak was part of a midfield that dominated Gold Coast, with Danyle Pearce and Brad Ebert also starring, and Kane Cornes keeping Gary Ablett to his lowest possession count of the season so far (24 disposals).
Primus said the development of the midfield group was the prime reason for Port Adelaide's turnaround.
He highlighted the games of Matthew Broadbent, Hamish Hartlett and Chad Wingard, saying the spreading of the onball workload was giving the team greater flexibility and resilience.
"A lot of our midfielders got a lot more of the ball, which takes a lot of pressure off our backs and gives our forwards good opportunity," Primus said.
[ Related: Match report ]
"If we’re going to be a good team in 12 or 18 months, we need to expose our onballers to as much time through as possible through the middle of the ground.
"I thought we came out a bit lazy in the first 10 minutes ... and then we were able to wrest back control of the game.
"Our third quarter - probably everything we judge ourselves on: our contested stuff, our structure around stoppages - was beautiful and we are able to generate a lot of our forward play out of that."
It was a term when the Power dominated the inside-50 count and slammed on seven goals to none, setting up back-to-back victories for the first time since the final rounds of the 2010 season, when Primus first took over as coach.
"It feels longer than that," Primus said.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
