PORT ADELAIDE forward Sam Powell-Pepper spoke to the Adelaide media on Friday after signing a two-year contract extension with the club.
The fan-favourite was pleased to extend his stay at Alberton, with the Perth product and his family now comfortably settled in South Australia.
Reflecting on his personal growth over the past two years, Powell-Pepper spoke on family, goals for 2023 and what it means to be a father.
Powell-Pepper on his contract extension
“It was very easy for (me to stay here). I love Port Adelaide and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else really. The support from Kenny (Hinkley) and Chris Davies, they've been a big support for myself and I'm pretty sure they're happy to have me around as well. I have another year in my contract from last time I signed and it's a lot better to get (the extension) out of the way at the start of the year so you can just focus on footy.”
Powell-Pepper on personal growth
“(At the end of 2021) the key people that (challenged me) were Kenny and Chris Davies. They put the hard word on me and they didn’t abandon me. They stuck by me and I owe them a lot for that. I wanted to prove not only to them but to myself as well that I could do it. A big help as well is my partner – she was there every step of the way. I had my career best year last year and hopefully I can go one step further this year.”
Powell-Pepper on calling Adelaide home
“Probably early on as you first get drafted you get a bit homesick but as you get settled into a new place, Adelaide starts to feel like home. (Having) the little one and my partner and our new house, it really settles you down. Each time I go back to Perth, I'm keen to go back to Adelaide. It's good to see the family and stuff but it's nice having your own little world and your own family over here.”
Powell-Pepper on family
“(My daughter just gives me) complete happiness. Just waking up to her smiling every morning and coming home and her saying "Dada," it just gives you another little (pep in your) step. She brightens up our day. Everyone knows now we are having another little one so we're very excited for that as well, we’re going to have a nice little family now.
“It took a while for me personally to get a few things together off-field, but as a young man before footy I always wanted to be a father. My nan pretty much had me half my life, so I always wanted to be a good father and I feel like I’m doing that at the moment. Everything I do – training, stuff off field and on the field – is all for my little one and for my future babies as well. It's my purpose and why I get up every day.”
Powell-Pepper on 2023
“The main goal is to get back into finals. We’ve got the group to do it. I'm glad I've got the contract out of the way now, I can just focus on the team and just perfecting that forward/mid role. I feel like we're all hitting the ground running and we’re all really fit and ready to go.
“I want to be that main powerful forward and hopefully kick more goals than I did last season. The main thing for me is just playing my role and if we can all do that then we'll be better as a team.”
Powell-Pepper on Jeremy Finlayson and partner Kellie’s respective health battles
“Myself and my partner, we're very close with Jez and Kell and the club as a whole has wrapped their arms around them and helped them in every way possible. We had them around last night for dinner. Jez has gone into surgery today so hopefully that's gone all good. They're the most down to earth people, the most amazing people, and it sucks that things like this happen to good people. We'll just continue to get behind them and show them all the love and support we can.”
