Port Adelaide’s Jeremy Finlayson reflects on wife Kellie’s shocking cancer diagnosis

AFL star Jeremy Finlayson has clarified controversial comments in his wife Kellie’s podcast, and detailed his emotions while dealing with her devastating cancer diagnosis.

Port Adelaide footballer Jeremy Finlayson has detailed his emotions and vulnerabilities while dealing with the shocking 2021 cancer diagnosis of his wife and mother of his newborn daughter.

Kellie Finlayson was 25 when she was diagnosed with stage four terminal bowel cancer, just months after giving birth to her baby girl.

Appearing on his wife Kellie Finlayson’s Sh!t Talkers podcast – on an episode released on Tuesday – the Power forward star addressed questions from listeners, speaking about Kellie’s brave battle with cancer, being a father and husband, and his role as a footballer.

Port Adelaide star Jeremy Finlayson, his fiance Kellie Gardner and their daughter Sophia at their Adelaide home. Picture: Tom Huntley

The podcast initially included comments that controversially addressed Finlayson’s three-game suspension for a homophobic slur against an Essendon player. Some of those comments were removed from the podcast on Wednesday morning.

Port Adelaide Football Club subsequently released a statement from Finlayson clarifying his comments.

“I said it ‘pissed me off that I got a three-week suspension’ ... when rethinking my comments today, it’s clear that I should have provided more context,” he said in the statement.

“On reflection, I should have explained that I was bitterly disappointed that I said what I did during the game and I am bitterly disappointed that I put myself and the club in the position I did. That is what I am most upset with.

“What I said on the field that night was totally unacceptable. I knew that at the time and I know it now. I stress, I have no issue with the sanction at all.”

Elsewhere in the podcast, Finlayson reflected on the joy of the birth of his daughter Sophia – born during the high of Covid lockdown – before the couple’s life was rocked by her cancer diagnosis.

“For me, when you heard the word cancer, it was oh my god, she’s going to die,” he said.

“When you got diagnosed, I was very scared and worried I was going to lose you with the newborn.

“I was scared and helpless really, I didn’t know what to do at the time. I was so lucky I had good people around me and around you as well.”

Jeremy Finlayson in action against the Bombers. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

He said it was hard to see his wife go through the treatment and witness what such a “cruel disease” could do.

Finlayson said he should have sought professional help more as he dealt with the emotions of facing losing a loved one.

“Looking back, I should have reached out more,” he said.

“As a man, most men try to put a brave face on, saying ‘I’ll be right’ … that’s when things actually overtake a human and get the worst of them.

He said he found the emotional toll was felt most at the end of last year.

“It wasn’t then and there for me, it was after 18 months or so of dealing with it, it took its toll,”

He encouraged other men to seek professional help to avoid carrying the weight of an issue that might have repercussions later.

Kellie penned her inspiring mindset in a recent column, as she explained a shift in mentality as she chose not to identify as a cancer victim or survivor but rather a “stage 4 colorectal cancer thriver”.