Sam Powell-Pepper hopes to be a one-club player, off the back of his four-year contract extension, which will keep him at Port Adelaide until at least the end of 2029. 

The 26-year-old was elevated to the leadership group this year, and has learned valuable lessons about off-field leadership, after an ACL injury ended his season early. 

Powell-Pepper spoke with the Adelaide media on Thursday about resilience, rehab and his pride in the playing group. 

Powell-Pepper on his contract extension 
“It feels pretty amazing. You know, getting drafted eight years ago, and to be able to hopefully be a one club player is pretty special, and a little bit of security as well knowing that I'm here to 2029. It's pretty exciting to know that I've got the next four or five years in front of me, and obviously a bit of a tough year this year, but something really nice that's come out of it. 

“It shows a lot of faith that the club has in me, and I feel like I've built a lot of that up over the years. And yeah, obviously with the knee, you have to earn your spot back and try and earn that contract, but I think I've done that over the past two or three years. And yeah, obviously not what I wanted (with the injury), but really looking forward to the next few years.” 

Powell-Pepper on his ACL injury 
“The hardest thing for me is probably just watching, I can't really sit still. I'm a pretty emotional guy, so watching games for me is pretty tough. It's taught me a lot of resilience and built my character quite a bit. But I think my girls (daughters Frankie and Billie) probably love having me around a bit more there, so they definitely got a kick out of it. But yeah it's nothing I can't handle. And you know, the club's helped me a lot, and the boys have supported me so well, and my fiancé, she's put up with me quite a bit. It's not easy, it's not just me, it's the people around me that it affects as well. So hopefully the boys can get a bit of success this year, and I can continue on with that next year as well.” 

Powell-Pepper on his knee rehab 
“I'm nearly four months post-surgery. So when I first did it, I asked them, when was the first time I can run? When’s the earliest I can run? They said three months so I've had the date written down. So, yeah, as soon as I could run (I did), I've been running for three weeks now, and full on sprinting. The longest running session I've done is probably about eight kms now, and bit of high speed, so definitely putting the legs under a bit of stress, but no change of direction just yet. So I'll come back from off-season and pretty much be training with the full group. And we were just talking before about wearing the pink hat, no contact, so see how that goes for me. But yeah, really looking forward to it.” 

Powell-Pepper on spending more time with his kids during his rehab 
“Yeah it's been pretty amazing, especially after the long days of pre-season, coming home and seeing my little ones run towards me and when I came home after being in hospital overnight and having the girls jump straight on my knee as soon as I lay on the couch, it was pretty funny. It shows you just to the brighter things in life. And you know, you can't really mope around too much, because you’ve got two little ones that rely so much on you. They've entertained me over the past four months, and I'm really grateful for them and my fiancé as well.” 

Powell-Pepper on being a spectator this year 
“Obviously, the first few months was pretty tough. Being on the bike for bloody every single day, pretty much, sitting behind the glass wall just watching the boys train, gets pretty lonely. But to be out in the fresh air now and running around the oval, and the boys yelling out, it gives you another little pep in your step and it's really motivated me for the next six months. 

“When I first initially did my ACL, there was a lot of that (missing finals) playing on my mind. And you know, I'm not playing at all this year and all that sort of stuff, but I've had lots of chats with my family and the club and the boys, and I'm just really grateful to be around this club and around all my best mates. And you know, it's going to obviously be bittersweet, but I've done everything I can to support them this year, and I want to push them to win that main goal that we have. And I remember messaging Boaky after one of the games, and you know, he wants to play with me next year. And I just said, yeah, hopefully we can go back-to-back. That'd be pretty special. So obviously a little bit bittersweet, but at the same time, I'm so happy, and I'm so grateful to be where I am.” 

Powell-Pepper on learning more about off-field leadership  
“I’m the type of player that leads by action, and I learned that over the past two years. The boys really followed me by the way I played out on the field, and it was a pretty big shock, obviously not being out on the field and having to find new ways to become a leader. And I think I've built so much on my leadership. Kenny's helped me with that. The leadership group has really helped me with that as well. And I can't thank them enough. I'm really proud of what the boys have done this year without me being out there and I'm super proud of them.” 

Powell-Pepper on Mitch Georgiades coming back from injury this week 
“Yeah, it's a pretty good problem to have (fitting players back in to the side). You know, it shows how good our depth is as well. And to have Mitch Georgiades back healthy, it's pretty exciting and to peak at the right time of the year. I know last year we kind of faded away towards the end of the year, and this year, I think we’ve really picked our momentum really nicely. To get a nice little win over in Perth against Freo would be pretty special as well.” 

Powell-Pepper on Dan Houston’s ban 
“I had a little chat to him after the game, and obviously sent him a few text messages over the past few days. But I said to him it doesn't define the person you are. You know, these type of things happen in footy. And he's pretty switched on as well. So he said there could be worse things going on, and credit to him, he's going to support the boys all the way as well. (With) my ACL, and I had four weeks (suspension) earlier on in the year, so I had a bit of knowledge to pass on to him. So all we can do now is support the boys. 

“I think a lot of people think because he's obviously a senior player and he's part of the leadership group, he might not need a check on him, but we always rally around all of our players, and if we know that someone's feeling a bit down, we all get behind each other, because that's what our team does. And, yeah, if he ever needs us, we'll be there for him.” 

Powell-Pepper on aiming for a top two finish 
“Yeah, it'd be pretty special. You know, those things can come into play, playing at home (in finals), especially with our supporters, they rock up every week, and give us 100 per cent so that'd be very important.”