Port Adelaide midfielder Sam Powell-Pepper will enjoy a sense of freedom returning to AFL ranks after being suspended for a drunken nightclub incident, his coach says.
Powell-Pepper will play against Adelaide on Saturday after being banned initially by Port, and then the AFL, for making inappropriate contact with a female at a city nightclub last month.
Adelaide coach Don Pyke has stopped short of declaring his players won't sledge Powell-Pepper about the incident which resulted in a three-match AFL ban.
"They understand, I think, pretty clearly where the line is with regard to on-field banter," Pyke told reporters on Friday.
And Port coach Ken Hinkley said Powell-Pepper had coped with sledging while playing in state league ranks during his AFL ban.
"He has dealt with some of those little issues already," Hinkley told reporters on Friday.
"He understands the mistakes that he has made and he owns them.
"I guarantee you, he will have some freedom when he gets back out there tomorrow night to play the game he loves and move on - and that is what he's trying to do."
Powell-Pepper is among four inclusions for Port as they seek to halt a five-game losing streak to their home-town rivals.
"We don't enjoy losing to the Adelaide Crows," Hinkley said,
"We don't enjoy losing to anyone but particularly Adelaide, we don't enjoy it.
"It's a fact we have a run (against Adelaide) at the moment that we're not enjoying. We get an opportunity tomorrow night to try and correct that."
Ex-Brisbane captain Tom Rockliff, Chad Wingard and defender Tom Clurey also return for the Power with Aidyn Johnson sidelined by a groin injury and Dom Barry, Karl Amon and Jasper Pittard all dropped.
The Crows recalled captain Taylor Walker from a hamstring injury and summoned Myles Poholke to replace Wayne Milera (hamstring) and Darcy Fogarty (omitted).
