FORMER Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak has ended his mandatory 14-day period of self-isolation and is beginning to enjoy the greater freedom outside of the four walls of his house.
Importantly, the Power’s reigning best and fairest winner took a philosophical approach to being shut inside his house for the past two weeks and did not let it affect his mindset.
“I am waking up in my own house, I have got food and I am healthy, so it is not really that hard,” Boak told the FIVEaa Sports Show on Wednesday afternoon.
“Everyone has been affected. The way you have got to look at it is ‘What are you grateful for?’
“That is the biggest challenge for everyone now – how do we be positive in a situation that is so negative and affecting so many people?
“For us, it is ‘What do I have?’ and ‘What am I grateful for?’ and that’s family being healthy and food on the table.
“We can get through it and support each other and be kind. When people are struggling you put your hand up and support those people.”
Renowned for his dedication to fitness and physical preparation, Boak approached his self-isolation period with the same challenger mindset, but admitted nothing quite replaces the usual human interaction of day-to-day life.
“Towards the end of the two weeks I was starting to get a bit frustrated and a little antsy and wanting to get out and get some fresh air,” he said.
“It wasn’t too challenging. The biggest thing is the interaction with people. I haven’t seen my mum in a long time – she was going to come over for the Showdown – I am missing family a bit.”
Boak has also remained committed to maintaining his fitness levels, but found being restricted indoors meant he had to get creative to stay sharp with his ball skills.
“The hardest thing about being inside for two weeks has been kicking the footy, that’s been the biggest challenge,” he explained.
“Myself and Sammy Powell-Pepper went out and got a rebounder just before the season got shutdown, so I’ve got that in my garage and have been doing a bit of touch with a football and some tennis balls just to keep my hand eye coordination going.
“The first thing I did was clear out the garage to make sure I had a set up to train in.
“That’s obviously pretty important over this little phase for us as footballers to make sure we come back in shape and be ready whenever we are called up to go back into training.”
The midfielder admitted there was still some uncertainty around when the Power playing group would return to training at Alberton Oval, but remained hopefully of getting back into games this year.
“At this stage we are hoping to get back (training) in early May, that will be reassessed over the next few weeks,” Boak said.
“Things have been changing rapidly so the AFL have been making decisions on the go, which is what we have to do at this stage.
“Hopefully we get out there at some stage and play some footy.
“Sport in general is a pretty big thing in Australia so if we can bring that back as quickly as possible with limited risk I think that will put a smile on a few faces.”
