Emotions high for Travis Boak as reality sinks in New Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak says his mother cried when she heard of the appointment. IT was Tuesday night, soon after Travis Boak had been told about coach Ken Hinkley's decision to appoint him captain, that the emotional roller coaster began. He called mother Chicki back home in Jan Juc near Geelong and delivered the news. Boak could have predicted the response. "She was in tears straight away," Boak said. Dad never played top-level footy but I'll continue to play for him and the family and all that sort of stuff. The family has always been close, but the distance between Boak, his sisters and mother has been testing as they continue to mourn father Roger, a local football great who died from cancer a year before Boak was taken at No. 5 in the 2006 draft. But Boak has remained loyal to Port, even with the Cats making advances last year. The magnitude of the appointment continued to sink in yesterday morning. Before the team ran out to train, there was loud applause drifting out of the rooms. They ran out and both coaches and players approached him as training began, discreetly shaking his hand or slapping his shoulder with a quiet "Well done, Boaky." They tried to keep it quiet but the secret, if they tried to keep one, was out. Boak will seek strength from the captains who have gone before him. He loved his time as a fill-in captain twice last year when Dom Cassisi was out injured. Guys who have been at the club before ... Warren Tredrea, I've spoken a little bit, Broges (Dean Brogan), he was a great leader and Kane Cornes has been huge for me as well," he said. He hasn't captained the club but he's helped me so much since I came to the club and in his own way he's a great leader. And also Dom, who's been huge. There hadn't been much captaincy for Boak before. He's been in the leadership group at Alberton, but the only time he has led a team before was back in his childhood. "I was captain once in the under-14s but that was only because Dad was the coach," Boak said. That was the only time I've ever been captain.