Tom Rockliff hails Port Adelaide tackling machine Sam Powell-Pepper as the toughest young player he has seen
TEN-YEAR veteran Tom Rockliff has hailed Port Adelaide teammate Sam Powell-Pepper as the toughest young player he has seen.
Port Adelaide
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TEN-YEAR veteran Tom Rockliff has hailed Port Adelaide teammate Sam Powell-Pepper as the toughest young player he has seen.
Responding to the 20-year-old’s club-record 17 tackles in the pulsating win against Melbourne at Adelaide Oval on Friday night, Rockliff said Powell-Pepper is so tough and hard that when there are tackling drills at training he tries to make sure he is on the same side.
“He’s an incredibly powerful unit,’’ former Brisbane captain Rockliff said.
“I haven’t come across anyone so powerful at such a young age in my time in the AFL.
“For a 20-year-old to be doing what he is at the moment in regards to his tackling and contested footy is quite unbelievable and I feel lucky to have him on my side.
“At training I try to team up with him so that I don’t have to be on the end of his tackles.’’
Powell-Pepper’s 17 tackles in the 10-point win against the Demons was two more than any Port player has ever laid in a game.
Former captain Dom Cassisi (2009), club games record holder Kane Cornes (2010) and ex-ruckman and current Blue Matthew Lobbe (2013) jointly held the previous record with 15 tackles.
The AFL record is 19 by the Western Bulldogs’ Tom Liberatore and North Melbourne’s Jack Ziebell in 2016 and Sydney’s Jude Bolton (2011).
Cornes has compared Powell-Pepper to Richmond Brownlow Medallist Dustin Martin.
Rockliff says he can see the similarities because of their power and ‘don’t argue’’ push-offs from tacklers but that Powell-Pepper thrives more on the grunt work and Martin possesses greater outside run and class.
Powell-Pepper recorded 94 pressure points against Melbourne — 40 more than the next-ranked Port player Jared Polec.
The Demons’ leader was Clayton Oliver with 67.
Rockliff said Powell-Pepper deserves great credit for Port’s come-from-behind win because he stood up physically when the home side was getting belted in clearances and subsequently inside 50s.
“We didn’t get our hands on the ball as much as we would have liked as a midfield group so ‘Pep’s’ tackling and pressure acts were really important in keeping us in the game, he led from the front in that side of things,’’ Rockliff said.
“His ability to tackle and also win his own footy is outstanding. Because he’s so strong he’s hard to tackle and bring down and his explosiveness from a standing start is as good as I’ve seen.
“He can pick up maximum speed really quickly and just burst out of a stoppages which is a pretty rare trait.’’
SLAMMIN’ SAM
Most tackles in a game for Port
17 — Sam Powell-Pepper v Melbourne, round 14, 2018
15 — Dom Cassisi v West Coast, round 16, 2009
15 — Kane Cornes v West Coast, round 2, 2010
15 — Matthew Lobbe v Fremantle, round 22, 2013
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