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DOM Cassisi knew Travis Boak would succeed him as Port Adelaide captain the day he looked Boak in the eye and said he understood if he was about to quit the club and go home.
On the eve of Boak's 50th game as Power captain, Cassisi says he was blown away by Boak's decision two years ago to resist a Victorian homecoming and the lure of rival clubs to stand by his own which was on its knees.
"I remember saying to him (in 2012) 'I can't polish a turd, I've got nothing to sell you to stay other than to say you will captain this club and imagine the feeling of taking it from being pretty average to right up there? Nothing will beat that'," Cassisi said.
"We had no coach, the board was pretty much stuffed, we had (CEO) Keith Thomas but didn't have a president ... Then for him to go and sign and put his faith in the club was unbelievable.
"I don't know if there would have been too many guys who would have stayed in that situation."
While Cassisi admits he was surprised by Boak's decision to stay at Alberton, from what he'd learned of Boak's character, he should have seen it coming.
"The boys definitely play for him and the reason they play for him is he's built up so much respect amongst the group over the seven-year period he's been there," Cassisi said.
"Since the first day he walked in. You can't be a dickhead for three years then flick a switch and start getting respect.
"He just got respect from day one because he worked hard ... how humble and how honest he is."
Cassisi was Port Adelaide's captain from 2009 to 2012 then played under Boak for his final two seasons before retiring during in 2014.
Boak was just 24 when he took over as skipper but Cassisi, who was 30 at the time, said it was meant to be.
"It was just so clear that he was ready, there was no awkwardness, it was a no-brainer," said Cassisi, a 228-game premiership player with Port Adelaide.
"He committed to the club and everyone was so pumped, it was so clear that he was going to be the best leader going forward and the transition was really good.
"It comes back to the way he carries himself, he works hard and he's humble."
As Port prepares to play Fremantle in Sunday's season opener, Cassisi and the Power's 2004 premiership captain Warren Tredrea have provided rare insight into Boak's leadership at the club.
"The one thing I didn't know if he had was the ruthlessness," Tredrea said.
"As a teammate he was always about preparation, he was young, a big early draft pick and had to show the way.
"But speaking to people even as recently as a few weeks ago, he's got that (ruthlessness) too.
"He can hold people to ransom and he can question his good mates even though they're mates."
On game day Boak will speak to the players as a group, but Hinkley is the last to address them as they huddle together before running out.
"He puts a lot of thought and effort into the pre-game stuff and mixes it up and ties it in to what we're focusing on in that particular week," Cassisi told The Advertiser.
"He always brings it back to the team and the only thing he asks is that you put the team first for four quarters and we'll be all right.
"He leads by example, he speaks up when he has to but he doesn't over-do it, which is good because when he does speak up it's even more profound.
"But he can be vocal when he has to. Say if a training session is not going well, he'll call the group in straight away.
"Kenny will blow the whistle and (Boak) will say 'boys, this is not up to standard'.
"His voice is awesome, on game day the way he directs the gameplan and structure.
"But he's not the type that yells and screams and barks."
After his outstanding season last year, Robbie Gray is understandably the flavour of the month for those forecasting Port's continued improvement this season.
But it's hard to look past Boak as the Power's best player.
One thing Tredrea and Cassisi both point to is that in the past two years when Port Adelaide has needed a big goal or a clutch tackle to make a statement, more often than not, it's been Boak who has delivered.
"Every time Port's needed a lift," Tredrea said.
"He's kicked Showdown goals, in finals think about that one where he followed the ball, got the handball receive and finished the goal early in the first quarter against Richmond.
"He wills himself to get better.
"He's not the most talented player on Port's list and he hasn't got the best skills - he's very, very good - but he just wills himself to a level like a Robert Harvey who I used to watch from a distance."
Cassisi agrees.
"The best leaders are the guys that respond when the coach asks them to, when their backs are against the wall," he said.
"If you think about how many times since Boaky has been captain, has he gone out and kicked a goal in the third or fourth quarter? Kicked a goal or done something really good when things are getting tough?
"There were numerous times throughout that 2014 season when the game was in the balance where he would do that.
"And post-match Kenny is like 'that is just a captain's game'.
"That to me is a true indication of a really good leader. You can say all you want but if you're not playing well then it doesn't matter.
"His game has gone to a new level, there's no doubt about that. Whether that's him thriving on the extra ownership and responsibility or not."
Cassisi does however note that the overall strength of Port Adelaide's team has complimented Boak in his early tenure as skipper.
"I think your group is in a bit of strife if you need a captain on game day to get everyone fired up," Cassisi said.
"That's the strength of the group at the moment, the boys go into a game with their roles that clearly defined, it's ridiculous, there is no grey area.
"That's the difference between a good coach and a bad coach, and it makes it easier when everyone has a clearly defined role and he's just driving the standards and performing at his best."
Tredrea says the positive influences around Boak extend further than just in the changerooms.
"He's also got good people around him, a chairman who gets it, a coach who gets it, all that sort of stuff," Tredrea said.
"In the media he presents well, he doesn't duck away from anything and he gets it. It's a phrase that's simple but he gets it, he knows what you need to do as captain and to be a successful organisation."
That is what Port Adelaide has been about since the new broom went through the place two years ago - putting the right people in the right positions and trusting the result will take care of itself.
Boak remains the fourth youngest captain in the competition but he has never looked more at home on the field.
"He stands up in the heat of the moment when he needs to and he's only 50 games in. His best is still to come," Tredrea said.
