Dom Cassisi will lead the Power in his fourth consecutive year as captain while John Cahill Medallist Travis Boak has been elevated to vice-captain after being a part of the club’s leadership group last season.
The remainder of the leadership group is comprised of experienced key forward Jay Schulz and two 21 year-olds - John Cahill Medallist Jackson Trengove, who retains his spot in the leadership group from last year, and Hamish Hartlett, who has been elevated for the first time.
Port Adelaide senior coach Mathew Primus says he’s delighted with the leadership capabilities of this young group.
“We’ve got a terrific leadership group assembled and now we’re looking forward to developing and supporting them as quick as we can so that they can continue to drive and uphold the culture and values of this football club moving forward,” said Primus.
Primus says Cassisi was a standout to lead the team again in 2012.
“Dom keeps developing his leadership skills every year and he really stood tall both on and off the field last season in what was a very challenging year,” said Primus.
“He’s got the ultimate respect of the playing group, the coaches and everyone involved at our club so it was a unanimous decision and we’re looking forward to supporting him as he continues to grow and develop in the role.”
Primus says Boak has taken on more responsibility and demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities this pre-season.
“Travis has really stepped up this pre-season and now coming into his sixth season at AFL level he feels very comfortable as to where he’s at within our group,” said Primus.
“He’s shown some real empathy towards the whole group this pre-season as he strives to push them up to another level and to lead and drive the values and culture amongst our group.”
Primus says the leadership group is completed well with the re-appointment of Schulz and Trengove from last year and the addition of Hartlett.
“Schulz has been around footy clubs for a while now and offers the group a real strong presence both on and off the field and is looking to lead and drive the club’s culture moving forward,” said Primus.
“Jackson was voted onto our leadership group last year and has developed those leadership qualities and earned another spot on our leadership group this season. The group really values the way Jackson goes about his footy and he has an ability to connect well with the younger players in our group.
“And Hamish is another who has really stepped up this pre-season and his peers have acknowledged and identified this by voting him into the leadership group. He now feels more comfortable about his footy and has the confidence to really drive his team mates very hard at training so that they get the best out of themselves.”
Cassisi says he’s thrilled to once again lead the Power into battle.
“It’s a huge honour to captain this football club and wear the number one guernsey again,” said Cassisi.
“I’m extremely excited about the young leadership group I’m going to have around me and I know we’re going to be able to drive the culture and behaviours that we need and expect at the club.”
Boak says it’s a privilege to be promoted to vice-captain duties at Port Adelaide.
“Being vice-captain at this club is something I’ll definitely cherish but I’m really looking forward to learning from Dom and the whole leadership group so I can improve my leadership skills and provide support wherever I can,” said Boak.
“Our pre-season has been fantastic and, with the help of the rest of the leadership group, I’m really looking forward to our entire playing group moving on from what we learnt last year and taking a positive step forward.”
Leadership group profiles:
Dom Cassisi - 29 yrs; 184 games
Travis Boak - 23 yrs; 90 games
Hamish Hartlett - 21 yrs; 31 games
Jay Schulz - 26 yrs; 103 games (32 at Port Adelaide/71 at Richmond)
Jackson Trengove - 21 yrs; 41 games
