MARCH 1979. Every devoted Port Adelaide supporter - in particular those who had put No. 7 (and then 1) on their replica black-and-white jumpers and duffel coats for the previous decade - were preparing for football without "God".

Russell Ebert, after fulfilling his fanatical drive to captain Port Adelaide to the end of a long premiership drought in 1977, was going. To North Melbourne in the VFL. He was not gone. At least - while Ebert was a "fly in, fly out" player for Ron Barassi - there was still the chance to get an autograph at his sports store in the city rather than after training on a Tuesday or Thursday night at Alberton Oval or after a match in the SANFL.

And there was "The Winners" on ABC Television with Drew Morphett hosting the weekly highlights package of Ebert collecting his 534 disposals in 25 VFL matches with North Melbourne ... wearing, quite appropriately, the No. 7.

"God" never seemed that far away ...

March 2022. Every devoted Port Adelaide fan - even those of the YouTube generation who are now seeing for themselves (rather than just hearing) of Ebert's powerful influence on a football game - is dealing with life without "God".

On Saturday night, the Port Adelaide faithful of many generations does it together. This time, as a celebration more so than the mourning everyone needed to live through at the State funeral at Alberton Oval in November last year.

At Adelaide Oval, where in 1968 - in his third league game with the big stage of the Anzac Day grand final rematch - Ebert announced his arrival as an SANFL player with a match-winning six-goal haul against Sturt.

Against Hawthorn ... even if the romantics, such as inaugural AFL club champion Darren Mead, would have preferred North Melbourne. And Mead suggests there should be a lasting on-field tribute, such as all future Port Adelaide-North Melbourne matches carrying the RF Ebert Medal for the player who best portrays the values of Port Adelaide's greatest footballer.

An unrivalled four Magarey Medals. A club record six best-and-fairest titles. A club record 392 senior games (all in the SANFL). And that overhead handpass ... along with that enduring image of strength and power. That willpower to make something happen on the field for the betterment of the team.

Ebert left us on November 5 after living his last year - with cancer - in the same way he had lived the previous 71. He felt blessed. He was strong amid adversity. He fully appreciated all he had enjoyed in life ... rather than lamented what he was being denied. Again, he was a model for so many others to follow.

Ebert left us with more than the enduring memories of a great footballer and a saintly humanitarian admired for helping those in need, even if it was for no more than his famous chainsaw that solved many problems in many gardens ...

Ebert left us with a line that echoes from the now barren Football Park to the hearts of every Port Adelaide fan who lived the 12-year drought from 1965 to 1977. Amid the throng of thousands of Port Adelaide fans and encircled by his team-mates and club staff, Ebert took the Thomas Seymour Hill premiership trophy from SANFL president Judge Don Brebner and said:

"It has taken us a bloody long time but by geez it’s worth it!"

Decades later, Ebert's legacy at Alberton is his testament to every Port Adelaide player following his footpath to uphold the club's mantra of exisiting to win premierships.

"It's just a matter of hard work. The more you put in, the more you'll get out of the game.

"Work as hard as you can.

"Do whatever the coach instructs you to do, whether you think it's right or wrong. In the coach's mind, it is right for you and the team."

Such wisdom should find its place in every Port Adelaide locker - and on the walls of a new training centre at Alberton - to remind everyone that nothing worth achieving comes easy.

Ebert went to the VFL in 1979 to test - and prove - himself in the biggest and toughest competition in Australian football.

Port Adelaide stepped towards the AFL in 1990 with the same intent.

On Saturday night, we remember Russell. We remember the man, the footballer, the club great. And there are so many memories ...