Ball’s now in Sam’s court following a Pepper spray from Power
PORT Adelaide has turned the blowtorch on Sam Powell-Pepper by insisting he fixes “troubles in his off-season over the last couple of years” and turns up to the upcoming pre-season in decent shape.
Power footy boss Chris Davies said Powell-Pepper needed to do things better to prove he “has a proper commitment to play at AFL level”. The 23-year-old wants more midfield time at the Power, which led him considering a move back to Western Australia during the trade period.
West Coast showed initial interest but prioritised the signing of Sam Petrevski-Seton from Carlton.
Powell-Pepper was the medical sub for the Power in the finals series, after he was dropped for the last two games of the regular season.
He burst on to the scene in his first year at the Power after being drafted from Western Australia, and then backed it up in his second season, despite copping a ban from the AFL after an investigation found that he inappropriately touched a woman at a nightclub while drunk.
But he hasn’t quite replicated that stellar early-career form in the three seasons since and Davies said he needed to show the Power that he had the commitment to realise his potential.
“Sam came into our club and played some significant footy in his first two years,” Davie said.
“He has had some troubles in his off-season over the last couple of years that I would suggest right now that he needs to fix if he really wants to become a midfielder.
“Which was the conversation we had with him and his manager in this trade period. Then there are some things that Sam needs to do better as well.
“That is something that we have put on the table right now and you’ll all get to see whether Sam has a proper commitment to play at AFL level through this pre-season.”