With Warren Tredrea and Dean Brogan on the bench, Salopek led Port Adelaide’s last quarter surge with eight touches and a goal.
The Power came within 10 points of toppling the near full-strength Blues, with Salopek (27 disposals) taking another step towards his goal of becoming a leader at Alberton.
“This is my sixth season and I think, in the second half, I was the third-oldest out on the ground, so it made me feel like a grandad,” Salopek said with a laugh.
"I’m not in the leadership group as yet, but hopefully I’ll get appointed quite soon.
"I’ve been saying that for the last two or three years, but really haven’t done much about it. So, I suppose this year, now that I’m ‘getting on’ in terms of this team, that’s something I really need to focus on. This year I need to put my stamp on the team and get some sort of leadership role.”
Only two members of the Power’s leadership group, Warren Tredrea and Dom Cassisi, took the field on Saturday night, but Salopek said the group had made a positive influence on the entire squad.
“I think the professionalism of the playing group has really stepped up,” he said.
“And it all stems back to the leadership group, who set the agenda, and don’t take any crap, I suppose. That’s the way we want it, so we can create a good culture at the club.”
With small forwards Brett Ebert, Daniel Motlop and Robbie Gray forced to pull out of the side at the last minute, Salopek provided a spark among the tall timber up forward.
The 63-gamer pushed hard into the forward 50m and finished with three goals to be the leading goalkicker on the ground.
“Something I worked on over the pre-season was my fitness and constant running. I showed a bit today, but I’ve still got some work to do,” he said.
“It was quite hot, so there were obviously a lot of rotations in the midfield, but I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and see what happens.”
