Power assistant coach urges Finlayson to prove himself in the SANFL

Jackson Clark Published April 2, 2025 at 2.35pm (AWST)

sport

Jeremy Finlayson will need to build form in the SANFL. (Image: AFL)

Out of favour Port Adelaide utility Jeremy Finlayson will have to build form in the SANFL if he is to gain the trust of the Power's AFL selection committee.

Despite the Yorta Yorta man's strong showing throughout the pre-season as a defender, Finlayson was demoted from the seniors after Port's demoralising 91-point loss to Collingwood at the MCG in Round 1.

Port Adelaide assistant coach Tyson Goldsack has laid down the challenge to Finlayson to earn his place back in the AFL side.

"Trust is a strong word, he needs to play," Goldsack told media.

"He needs to prove to us the position that he can fill, and whether that is forward, because we're lacking tall forwards or whether it's defensively.

"He needs to play a role and show us that he's really committed to what he can do."

The 29-year-old was switched to defence during the pre-season in the absence of injured duo Esava Ratugolea and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and looked right at home.

Jeremy Finlayson celebrates a goal for the Power. (Image: AFL)

In the Power's AAMI Community Series win over St Kilda, he finished with 29 disposals, 13 marks and seven intercept possessions.

But despite a ten-mark effort against the Magpies, Finlayson was left out of the Power's team the following week.

Playing in the SANFL last weekend, he gathered 15 disposals and a goal while performing a variety of on-field roles for the Magpies.

Finlayson has played 121 AFL games, including 55 with Port Adelaide since joining the club from Greater Western Sydney at the end of the 2021 season.

Meanwhile, Goldsack has dismissed any injury concerns to star midfielder Jason Horne-Francis, who has performed below his lofty standards across the opening three rounds.

The Power assistant coach said that the 20-year-old Wardaman man is fully fit but just off the pace in key moments.

"He's 100 per cent fit as far as I'm aware," Goldsack said.

"Last week he got some really good opportunities and just wasn't able to grasp those chances forward of the ball – he was a step off here, a step off there.

"His work rate is there for the most part, it's just we saw him drop a couple of marks he wouldn't usually take so I don't know if it's a confidence thing.

"I don't know where he's at, and I can't really speak on behalf of him, but still, he did a couple things late in the game which looked more like him."