Wingard knocked out as Port scrapes past plucky Demons in Alice Springs
TRAVIS Boak added another chapter to his lore of leadership on Saturday, overcoming an ankle injury to lift Port Adelaide to a 20-point win over Melbourne in Alice Springs.
Boak was close to being substituted off after rolling his ankle in the first quarter, but returned and starred as the Power kicked the final four goals of the game to win 14.11 (95) to 11.9 (75).
Boak finished with 28 disposals and one goal, a fair effort given the 25-year-old's ankle was so swollen he is in doubt for next Saturday's clash with St Kilda.
"He had some help to get through the game," Port coach Ken Hinkley said, adding that Boak was very close to putting on the red vest when the game was 10 minutes old.
"I've just had a look and his ankle is quite big. He'll have a bit of a challenge to come up next week."
Chad Wingard (concussion) is also in some doubt for next weekend, having been accidentally knocked out by team-mate Jay Schulz in a third-quarter marking contest.
"Chad said he was fine, he was more angry about the way he'd been playing," Hinkley said.
"He looks pretty bright and fresh at the moment."
The Power raced to a 26-point lead before Melbourne had even scored in the inaugural regular-season match in Alice Springs, but from that point on were put under extreme pressure in a bruising encounter.
With 10 minutes remaining in the match, Paul Roos' men hit the front after Christian Salem kicked the opening goal of the final quarter.