Oppo: Skipper set to tag?
Will Travis Boak go to Rory Sloane in Sunday's Showdown XLIII?
Port Adelaide skipper Travis Boak is willing to sacrifice his own game to shut down Adelaide star Rory Sloane in Sunday's Showdown at Adelaide Oval.
Sloane tore the Power apart in this year's round three encounter, picking up 31 possessions and eight clearances on his way to winning the Showdown Medal.
But since then, opposition teams have successfully limited Sloane's influence on games when they apply a tagger.
"There's no doubt if I get given any role that I'd be more than happy to do it for the side," Boak said.
"If that means going to Sloane, that'd be something I'd love to do.
"I've done it before.
"Whoever does it – Brad (Ebert) has done it this year and Ollie (Wines) has done it at certain times as well … so we'll certainly look at it and make sure we do a great job."
The Power had several players on restricted duties at their training session at Alberton Oval on Wednesday morning, but no-one is in doubt for Sunday.
Crows stars Eddie Betts (appendix), Brad Crouch (fractured cheekbone) and Jake Lever (hamstring) all took part in a light training session at West Lakes on Wednesday, but need to get through Thursday's main training session behind closed doors at Adelaide Oval.
Betts appears to be in the most doubt as he continues his recovery after having his appendix removed early last week.
"Appendicitis isn't that comfortable, so he'll progress through the week and obviously do some contested stuff tomorrow and we'll see how he pulls up," Crows captain Taylor Walker said.
"I'm quite confident all three will be fine if they get through tomorrow."
The Crows have won the past four Showdowns to square the ledger at 21-all heading into the 43rd meeting between the cross-town rivals.
Boak said the Power weren't carrying any psychological scars, insisting they were starting with a clean slate.
"It don't think it's got any effect, this week's another game and we don't really look too far in the past," Boak said.
"We're a different side to the one we were earlier in the year and last year.
"We changed a lot of things in the pre-season and early on the year we were putting a lot of those things in place.
"We're excited for this weekend, it's certainly a big challenge, they're the best side in the competition so we're up for it."
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