Port Adelaide DROP star player for crucial AFL final against GWS just hours after he admitted that his wife’s cancer battle was ‘taking its toll’

Port Adelaide star Jeremy Finlayson was dropped from his club’s knockout final against GWS this weekend, just hours after admitting on national television that his wife’s battle with cancer was “taking its toll”.

Kellie Finlayson was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer – usually terminal – in 2021 just three months after the birth of the couple’s first child, Sophia, and has been undergoing ongoing chemotherapy since then.

The family were shocked in June this year by false reports that she was ‘cancer free’, resulting in a flood of traumatic messages of congratulations as the fight for her life continued.

Now the family has been dealt another cruel blow, with Port Adelaide dumping Finlayson from their side to face GWS in their AFL elimination final to make way for spearhead Charlie Dixon.

Although Kellie has terminal stage four cancer, it has stopped spreading and there is reason for hope for the young family

The official squad was announced on Wednesday, with Finlayson’s name omitted from the team sheet, just hours after they appeared on Seven’s The Morning Show.

“It’s been a tough road, it’s been a long 18 months,” Finlayson said.

“It’s taken its toll, I won’t lie. Lately, the last three or four weeks, it has taken its toll and it shows in the football.

“I’ve been trying to put a brave face on everything, just looking at how strong Kellie is and just trying to be her rock and just trying to put a smile on her face on the football field for her and Soph and trying for them worry as she goes through such a difficult battle. It’s all I can do.’

Finlayson moved from the Giants to Port Adelaide in 2022 and had his best season this year, scoring 38 goals – second only to his stellar 2019 when he scored 44 goals for GWS.

However, his form has dropped sharply in the last six, coinciding with Port’s late-season problems.

Finlayson, pictured right, played in the club’s qualifying final against the Brisbane Lions but has been ruled out for the knockout match against GWS

Kellie was optimistic Wednesday, saying they’re “not out of the woods yet,” but the cancer has stopped spreading.

“Obviously, with a terminal diagnosis, it’s not common for things to go as well as they did for me,” Kellie said.

‘The chemotherapy and all the alternative therapies that I have done and put myself through have worked, which is of course fantastic, but we are not out of the woods yet, and I have to be realistic with the fact that I still have cancer and even though things aren’t spreading and things are getting better, I’m still going through the emotions of what’s to come.”

St Kilda great Leigh Montagna said Finlayson’s form had dipped and the tough decision had to be made.

“He hasn’t played well in six to eight weeks,” he said.

“He is out of shape and they have had to make a choice.”