Still number one

Results have not fallen the way of Port Adelaide’s AFL side over the last few weeks, but no-one can fault the effort and determination displayed. Greater Western Sydney proved to be too good on the field, but there was another aspect to the game where Port showed some class.

Serious tradition

Port is a club with a history that goes back to 1870 and takes its traditions seriously. One of those traditions is that the captain always wears number one. Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak reverted to his original number ten to allow a young fan who is recovering from cancer to be captain for the weekend and take on the privilege wearing the number one guernsey instead. This broke the tradition of the Port Adelaide captain wearing number one on the field for the first time since 1966.

Wearing number one

8-year-old Henry Mickan wore the famous number and led the players through the banner at Adelaide Oval in front of 34,000 fans before the game against Greater Western Sydney.

The gesture was supported by the game day charity partner the Childhood Cancer Association for whom Boak is an ambassador. Having lost his father to cancer, Boak has firsthand experience of the impact of the disease and did not hesitate to honour young Henry:
“It’s a pretty special cause and it’s all about Henry and his family and making sure we make it a special day for him.  Part of that is for him to wear number 1 and for me to wear number 10 and I’m so proud of the club that we’ve been able to do this.”