Did Port Adelaide do the right thing by dropping key teenage players while retaining Travis Boak?

Did Port Adelaide make a mistake by delisting key teenage forward Thomas Scully while retaining 36-year-old veteran Travis Bouck?

This is exactly the question Mark Bickley asked on SAIN SA Breakfast on Tuesday morning.

The Power announced on Monday that it had delisted a slew of players, including Quinton Narkle and Francis Evans, who both played in the 2024 finals. This comes after the decision to re-sign Boak, who has played 23 games this season.

Scully, a 203cm 19-year-old key forward, did not make her debut for the Power, stuck behind the likes of Charlie Dixon, Todd Marshall, Mitch Georgiades, Jeremy Finlayson and Ollie Lord.

He was also stuck in a SANFL side that went 4–14 and finished with a percentage of 40, making the key forward’s development and performance difficult.

Beakley feels that Scully has some potential and his rejection took her by surprise.

“I was a bit surprised because he showed a little bit of SANFL level at various stages,” the two-time premiership captain said. SAIN SA Breakfast.

“And it’s difficult when you’re a striker and there’s not a lot of the ball coming at you.

“He’s 200cm tall and the big guys take a little longer to develop.”

Bickley wonders whether Power will regret leaving Scully off the list in the coming years, perhaps when they opt for the 36-year-old.

“The fact that there were nine changes makes me wonder if that will influence Travis Boak’s decision,” he said.

“There will be people who will doubt it and say that you have a 200cm striker and you are still keeping a 36-year-old midfielder. We’ll just have to see who’s right and who’s wrong, and you probably won’t know until the end of next year.

“If Scully returns to the SANFL, has a great year and gets drafted by another club, you’ll probably say Port Adelaide pulled the wrong lever, but if Travis Boak has another great year in football and Port will win the flag, you I would say how smart Port was.

“The club said it was up to Travis to make that decision. I just feel like it’s dangerous because there are some players, and Rory Sloane was one of them, who would say you’re going to have to drag me out of here kicking and screaming.

“I’m not saying Travis is like that, but sometimes when you’re nearing the end of your career, you’re not the best person to judge.

“There is always a vested interest. If you’re being paid half a million dollars and you’re being paid a quarter of that outside of football, it clouds your judgment.

“Secondly, it looks like Boak was right to identify that they need to improve because they weren’t good enough in the final. That’s why Narkle and Evans were left off the list.

“I thought if you were desperate to get better, you wouldn’t get much improvement from Travis Bouck on the field.

“I completely understand why you need quality people at your football club. There is no doubt about it. He makes people better people from Monday to Friday. Can you get it without it taking up a spot on the list?

“But the answer is, you bring in six young players anyway, why not keep Boak, who will probably still play a lot of football.”

Narkle, Evans, Scully, Kyle Marshall and Tom Clury were removed from the list of companies announced by Port Adelaide.

Narkle is expected to receive a lifeline from Fremantle while Clury has been sacked with one year remaining on his existing contract to explore opportunities elsewhere.

He has been linked to a move to the West Coast.