Jeremy Finlayson and Sam Powell-Pepper have developed an unbreakable friendship stemming back to Finlayson's first day at the club. Image: Michael Sullivan.

THEY formed an unlikely but oddly damaging one-two ruck combo on the field in 2022 and Jeremy Finlayson has credited Sam Powell-Pepper’s friendship with helping him settle into life at Port Adelaide, particularly under some testing off field challenges.

Finlayson was traded to the club in October last year from Greater Western Sydney where he had played 66 games.

Life was good. He had completed his shift to South Australia and was enjoying life as a first-time dad to then four-month-old Sophia. Then his partner Kellie Gardner was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

Describing himself as “a pretty quiet bloke” and “a country lad who likes to keep to himself”, Finlayson was trying to balance his off-field challenges with settling into a new club.

Then he met Powell-Pepper.

“When I first arrived here, I remember it was the great Russell Ebert’s funeral and I had only just arrived in Adelaide,” Finlayson recalls.

“I sent Pep a message and asked if I could go to the funeral with him because I hadn’t even had a day at the club yet but I felt it was important that I was at Alberton for such an important event.

“We just clicked from that point and now we’re like brothers.

“We spend every day together on and off the field and more importantly our families – our little girls and our partners – are really good friends, which helps them get through life as well.”

Finlayson and Powell-Pepper clicked straight away, forming one of the strongest bonds at the club. Image: AFL Photos.

Always together – at training and at home – the duo gets to the driving range as often as possible, although neither claims to be any good.

“It’s more hit and hope, you know what the driving range is like,” Finlayson jokes.

Kellie’s health has improved drastically following her cancer treatment, and the couple now has built a “family” made up of friends including fellow young parents Powell-Pepper, teammate Aliir Aliir and assistant coach Chad Cornes and their respective partners.

“I had seven years in the AFL without being a dad and it’s a different challenge now but to have the support of Brya and Sam, along with Aliir and Sabina and Mikayla, Chad Cornes’ partner so they’ve helped form a friendship group, which has been important when we don’t have a lot of family around,” Finlayson says.

“For me having my little family helps me with footy. It just gives me another outlook on life.”

Finlayson started the 2022 season with goalless games against Brisbane and Hawthorn before being dropped to the SANFL to find form.

Few realised then what he and his family were going through.

He finished the year as one of the Power’s more important players after being thrown into the ruck to cover for the loss of the experienced but injured Scott Lycett.

Finlayson and Powell-Pepper, each in their own right, developed into two of Port Adelaide's most important players in 2022. Image: AFL Photos.

Despite not winning a heap of hit-outs, his numbers suggest he was among the highest ranked ruckmen in the competition because of his ability to recover quickly at ground level and become an additional clearance-winning midfielder.

It was for similar reasons that Powell-Pepper found himself as Finlayson’s back-up ruckman.

“We laugh about it now but it’s what we did throughout the year,” Powell-Pepper laughs. “He was number one and I was number two. It’s pretty funny but it seemed to work.

“From the first day we met we clicked straight away,” he continues. “I remember Sam Mayes planned a night where we got a few boys and their partners together.

“My partner couldn’t come but I met Jez and Kel for the first time and I told my partner I thought she’d get along with Kel really well.

“We’ve formed a close bond over the past year. He reminds me a lot of my mates back in Perth.

“I’m proud of how far he has come given all the struggles he and Kel have had. He’s a really good dad and a really good mate too.”

From Finlayson’s perspective, while he enjoyed his time in the ruck, the 26-year-old is expecting to step back into the forward line in 2023 with Lycett’s return to fitness.

“I trained all pre-season as a forward knowing I’d help out in the ruck but I’ve learned that with teams you just need to adapt to whatever the group needs you to do,” Finlayson reflects of his start to life at Alberton.

“I decided to just embrace it and take it on. I wanted to be playing in the AFL because of what was going on off the field. To play in front of big crowds in big games really helped me through those times and now I find it funny that given Pep and me are like brothers that I ended up leading the ruck and he was a second ruck.

“Hopefully this year with big Scoot (Scott Lycett) coming back (from injury) and big Hayesy (Sam Hayes), Brynn (Teakle) and Dante (Visentini) moving well, I’ll go back to being a back-up.”

Leading into his second season at Alberton, Finlayson is grateful for the support he has received from teammates, colleagues and supporters alike, and loving being part of the Port Adelaide family.

“Obviously the first year was a bit rocky,” he smiles. “I had my ups and downs but looking back at it now, it feels like I’ve been here my whole footy career.

“It’s only one year down but to be part of this amazing footy club with such a rich culture and such a good supporter base really made the year go as well as it could in my first year given the challenges I had off the field.

“I can’t wait for 2023.”