PORT Adelaide's Travis Boak says his side has missed a chance to cement its early season after Saturday night's five-point loss to North Melbourne.
A victory would have kept the Power in touch with ladder leaders Geelong and St Kilda and, placing as much importance on the game as they did on last week's clash with Adelaide, Boak said they were shattered by the result.
"We wanted to put this game down as a big game for the year. Just as big as the showdown last week," he said.
"We thought if we could win this we would try to set up our season. It was unfortunate in the end."
But the 20-year old said the loss was not a result of the Power lingering on the jubilation of the win over the Crows.
"I don’t think that is an excuse. We were ready to go. We moved on from that game after reviewing it," he said.
"We looked at North Melbourne’s structures and we were ready to go but they got a jump on us in the first half and we couldn’t get back."
In his third season, Boak is consolidating his spot in the side and making the most of his midfield opportunities.
He gathered 27 possessions against the Roos and said he has worked hard to improve his game.
"It was a pretty hard pre-season and I worked on my centre clearance work and tried to build up the body a bit so I could try to play a bit more in the midfield," he said.
"I got a bit more time in there this week and I’m slowly getting there and starting to get a bit more confidence in around the ball.
"I’ve worked on my kicking a fair bit over pre-season. I think that has improved a bit. I really wanted to be a clearance and stoppage player. That is one thing I worked on the most.
"My body size is probably a bit better. Hardness around the footy is something I wanted to improve on."
Boak was part of one of the more exciting match-ups of the night, going head-to-head with North Melbourne draftee Jack Ziebell.
He believes the first-round draft pick is set for big things.
"He is going to be a great player for many years," he said.
"He is a tough, inside player but he can also play outside. He’s got very good skills. It was a good contest with him tonight."
