HERE to help.

It’s a belated homecoming of sorts for Travis Boak, the Carlton supporter growing up who now calls IKON Park his place of work after cementing himself as a great of the Port Adelaide Football Club.

It was nearly 20 years ago when Boak was a member of the AIS Academy, training alongside the likes of Anthony Koutoufides and dreaming of potentially pulling on the Navy Blue one day.

That wasn’t to be, instead carving out a universally respected career of 387 games - the most in Port’s history - as well as three All-Australian blazers and six years as captain.

Announced by the Blues at the end of October as a key off-field acquisition in the leadership and culture space, Boak is now wearing the Navy Blue polo, intent on getting the very best out of a new group for the first time in a long time.

“I’m excited to be here. I grew up a Carlton supporter and I remember the area well when I was a kid, but I’d never been inside the four walls. Back to the roots!

“Being captain and with the leadership stuff I learned, there were things I wish I’d done differently - hopefully now I can implement that here, work closely with the leaders plus the mentoring of young guys to be the best athletes they possibly can. In turn, that’ll help the Carlton Footy Club win games.

“I love it - I’ve only known one thing for so long. Seeing some aspects [of Carlton], I’ve only been here for a couple of hours, but seeing the competitive nature of the group is music to my ears. It’s really cool to see: one of the hardest traits to coach into players is hunger and a want to improve.

“You can see that straight away.”

While Boak was physically at IKON Park for the first time on Wednesday, there had been a fair bit of work done in advance - even prior to committing to the Blues, as it turns out.

Carlton GM of Football Chris Davies put on the radar a number of weeks ago that the Blues were looking for depth in numbers when it came to leadership. Before he was even in the door, Boak had a phone call with a former opponent that he has the utmost respect for who will now be a close confidant.

“I spoke to ‘Crippa’ pretty early, before I even chose to come over here. The conversation that stood out with him is the curiosity and the want to learn and grow - how can he help the group, how can he grow.

“It was exactly the same with ‘Walshy’ and ‘Weiters’ as well. They were really excited to learn: what new aspects can we implement? How can we make this group better?

“That’s one of the best traits you can have as a leader, being open to learn and wanting to get better. That you don’t know everything, and you’re curious about wanting to improve. That was why I was so excited to come here.”

It’s not just with the Blues’ established core that Boak will be working closely with, but rather across the board as a new crop of emerging leaders begin to establish themselves.

For Boak, who made no secret of his preference to explore the leadership and culture space rather than strictly football development, it’s a big part of why he saw IKON Park as the perfect fit.

“It’s helping them understand their value. Where they can step up, where they sit within the group: that’s not only the players who have been here for five, six or seven years. That’s the first and second-year players as well, that come in and make a massive impact on the group.

“A leader isn’t one certain things that’s done a certain way. Everyone has got it in them, it’s just done in a different way - hopefully I can help get that from these players.

“You can learn from different leaders… but if you’re not leading from authenticity, it’s not as powerful. That’s the most critical thing. It’s understanding what is true to you and what’s powerful to you.”

With 19 years of experience at the elite level, Boak concedes that there were things he learned late in his career that he would’ve loved to be able to implement from the outset. That’s all part of the learning process.

It’s those key pieces which he’s hoping to help leave a mark on a new-look Carlton list.

“When you’re an athlete and a footballer, you’re constantly in this bubble of ‘that’s who I am’. I need to work harder as a footballer, I need to train harder and that’s how I get better.

“The thing I started to learn towards the back end of my career is that comes second to the human being first. The more we can understand ourselves as people, that then coincides with a better athlete. That’s the space I want to get into.

“Helping separate the two, which then allows less pressure when you go out on the footy field. You become more vulnerable, you become more curious, you start to become a better teammate, have better conversations and more critical conversations.

“Hopefully that’s the space I can help to then allow those players to become better athletes.”