Boak told AFL.com.au he is confident the Power has the support structures in place to ensure their players perform at their best in round one against Melbourne at the MCG – the scene of McCarthy's last game, in round 23 last year against Richmond – and in their round two home game against Greater Western Sydney, which Port has dedicated as a tribute match for McCarthy.
"We'll probably address [the emotion associated with McCarthy] when the games come close," Boak said.
"I guess going out and playing footy will always bring back memories, but they will always be good memories and we've played footy already in the NAB Cup and haven't had any dramas with that yet.
"We've got a lot of people in place who will help the guys around the club. They know that they're there and the players are there to talk to each other.
"We've got a pretty close group and we're comfortable with talking to each other about that sort of stuff."
McCarthy played 21 games in his one season at Port last year after crossing from Collingwood (18 games from 2008-11) in the 2012 pre-season draft.
He died tragically in Las Vegas in September last year while on a players' end-of-season trip.
Boak said in his short time at Port, McCarthy had left a legacy as a person and a player that everybody at the club had embraced.
"He was a huge part of the club and such a great, kind person. He was a huge part of our lives, he will always be there and we want to continue to live that," Boak said.
"We'll probably still watch vision from last year and we'll continue to talk about him as though he's still part of the club and that's how we want to deal with it.
"And I'm sure when we run out round one, he'll be part of that. So we'll continue to go down that path.
"Every game we'll be with him and that's how we'll stay."
Nick Bowen is a reporter with AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Nick
