SOME anniversaries pass without notice. This is a good sign for Port Adelaide forward Sam Powell-Pepper.
"Oh yeah, round seven last year ...," noted Powell-Pepper in walking off Adelaide Oval on Saturday evening with sound legs, a year - exactly to the day - after he was limping into the changerooms early with a serious knee injury.
"One year since I did my knee," added Powell-Pepper, needing to reboot a memory. "Now that I think about it, that year went quick ... but it also was a grind as well, a slow grind.
"I'm happy where I am now ... so let's keep going."
The only scar remaining from that testing moment is the work of the surgeon who rebuilt his right knee. Physically, 27-year-old Powell-Pepper is stronger. Mentally, he is in a better place than a year ago when season-ending moment in a solo marking opportunity at the southern end of Adelaide Oval against St Kilda prompted an escape to Bali.
"And I am now filled with gratitude (rather than regret) ...," says Powell-Pepper, the 18th call and Port Adelaide's second pick in the 2016 AFL national draft.
Some milestones also pass without the same fanfare, such as those between the more celebrated ton and double century of AFL games. Powell-Pepper marks his 150th AFL game on Saturday afternoon in Ballarat against the in-form Western Bulldogs - eight years after making his national league debut against Sydney at the SCG on March 25, 2017.
And this moment merits greater reflection on the growth of the West Australian teenager who has advanced from a challenging childhood amid a broken family circle in Perth to become a husband to Brya, doting father to Frankie and Billie, team leader and so-called barometer of Port Adelaide's form on the football field.
"I've got there," says Powell-Pepper, who was certainly aware on Saturday night where his games tally stood. "It has been a journey, such an amazing journey. From where I have come in life from early childhood and all the adversity I have had to overcome, I have taken every opportunity that has come my way. And I am grateful for them."
Powell-Pepper has played all eight games this season in a recast attack.
"All the cobwebs are out now and I am now starting to play some decent footy," says Powell-Pepper.
As the surgeons promised, the rebuild of the anterior cruciate ligament has given Powell-Pepper more reason to forget rather than remember the immediate pain from the landing after he jumped alone for the pinpoint pass from Dan Houston.
"Honestly, I don't think about it," says Powell-Pepper, explaining how he came to Adelaide Oval at the weekend without any mental scars. "From all the testing I did leading up to playing, my right leg is stronger than my left. Everything feels good. I don't think about it too much. I just go out there and play."
If a week is supposed to be a long time in football, a year out of the game would be an eternity - as felt by Powell-Pepper from a season lost to injury.
"You start again, building your fitness from the beginning," recalls SPP. "You take three months off after surgery. You then need to build your fitness base. There is a fair bit that goes into it. But it is more a mental thing ..."
It is time never regained in a chapter that is relatively short for a professional footballer. But it also can be time used to find a focus to make the most of what is to come on the return to the playing field.
"For me," says Powell-Pepper, "it was about finding perspective and having gratitude for all that I have around me ... beautiful kids, my wife and even still being at the club every day.
"This is such an amazing job to have. Most people are in 9-5 jobs with their challenges. I am just grateful for this opportunity. I am filled with gratitude.
"I knew when I was sitting on the couch a year ago (how lucky I am to play in the AFL). My daughters are asking me every second day why was I not playing. That broke my heart. Now I am happy the girls can watch their Dad play now ..."
A year later, Powell-Pepper has returned to a Port Adelaide attack that has had its own surgical refit. Key target Charlie Dixon has retired. Fellow tall Todd Marshall is in the medical rooms recuperating from an Achilles injury suffered in the pre-season. And forwards coach Chad Cornes has a new playbook to deal with the challenges imposed by losing Marshall and Gold Coast recruit Jack Lukosius.
"I miss playing with the big man," says Powell-Pepper of the loss of Dixon as the beacon in attack offering ground-ball moments to opportunist small forwards.
"It has changed. We have changed up our game style because we don't have that big presence in attack like Charlie. We have to use our hands, kick it to grass with the more smalls we have out there now."
A new gameplan focussed on the smaller forwards would work to Powell-Pepper's advantage.
"Get to the front of the packs, run onto the ball ... not too much has changed there," says Powell-Pepper. "But we do have quite a few smalls here now ... so I have to play as a 'tall' 50-60 per cent of the time. Yeah, a 187-centimetre tall ..."
Certainly unchanged is Powell-Pepper's reluctance to let any defender have an easy exit path from Port Adelaide's forward half.
"I hate it," says Powell-Pepper of opponents scoring rebound 50s on his watch. "Just hate it ...
"It is all about being competitive. The opposition can gain momentum pretty quickly. They can find their confidence pretty quick. We have to match that. Not just physically, but mentally," adds Powell-Pepper of his eagerness to get in the faces of his rivals.
"I do a lot of work (on defensive work as a forward). I do pride myself on the pressure we bring with our tackling (a game-defining feature at the weekend as noted by North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson).
"We even do a lot of work with the defence coaches (Tyson Goldsack and Hamish Hartlett). It comes natural to me."
