'Not going to stop': Port star's vow in face of hefty ban

Port Adelaide forward Sam Powell-Pepper has vowed he won't be changing the way he plays despite copping a lengthy ban for a crude bump.

Powell-Pepper was referred straight to the tribunal for the bump on Crow Mark Keane in a pre-season game, which the 26-year-old admits he regrets.

The panel deliberated for an hour and a half before settling on four weeks in the stands.

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"My teammates know the way I play," he told 9News Adelaide.

"I put a lot of pressure on and that's what the team relies on me for, so I'm not going to stop doing that."

Powell-Pepper has played 139 games for the Power since he was drafted as an 18-year-old in 2016.

After bursting onto the scene in his rookie year, the following seasons were marred by a series of off-field scandals and a drop in on-field performances.

By his own admission, Powell-Pepper took a while to adjust to the standards and demands of being a professional athlete, but those indiscretions have helped him become who he is now – a senior member of the squad.

"You learn along the way and that's definitely what I did."

That role was formalised when he was voted into the team's leadership group ahead of the season – the same leadership group that once voted to impose a one-game club suspension on him after a drunken incident in an Adelaide nightclub.

"It's a pretty good feeling when the whole team backs you like that," he said of the honour.

But while he plays with a hard edge on the field, it's a far cry from the doting dad he is off it. He and fiance Brya have two daughters – two-year-old Frankie and eight-month-old Billie.

"My main priority is to give my kids that loving, caring and affectionate upbringing that I didn't really get."

Powell-Pepper won't be available until Port's round five clash against the Dockers. It can't come soon enough.

"Hopefully the boys have won four in a row by then and I can just slip back in nicely."

Port begin their season against the Eagles at home on Sunday afternoon.