2002 started with Sally at loggerheads with Don Fisher after he refused to let her teach Year 12s, believing she was too weak after her cancer scare. The news that Summer Bay High was being threatened with closure caused a further rift between them when they disagreed on strategy.
She was suspicious when her ex Brett Egan returned to town but she made it clear she was with Flynn and Brett wished her luck. After he had left the town it was revealed that he had been working out on a limb to help safeguard the future of the school.
Having been slightly jealous of Brett, Flynn asked Sally to move in with him and was gutted when she turned him down. They later had a heart to heart and she was able to convince him that she loved him and that he had nothing to worry about. He arranged a surprise for her by having all her friends and family round to watch a video from her foster mother Pippa during the centenary celebrations and won her family's seal of approval.
After Sally was lost in the bush after the Mirigani sinking, she saved the lives of Sophie and Blake thanks to skills Flynn had taught her and when they were reunited their relationship seemed stronger than ever She was concerned when Shauna returned to town that she might be after Flynn again but it turned out her friend Charlotte was the one who needed to worry as Shauna set her sights on winning Jude back. With Sally still angry at her ex friend Shauna over trying to steal Flynn, she was firmly in Charlotte's corner when Jude left town with Shauna.
Her support was tested to the limits though when Charlotte, grieving for the loss of her miscarried twins, asked Flynn to father a baby with her but Flynn declined her offer. They were both devastated when Charlotte died after complications from drowning and released white balloons in her memory. Her death bought Sally to the conclusion that life was too short so Flynn moved in with her.
They struggled to adapt to living together at first and argued about the strangest things such as which way up the cups should be put in the cupboard but managed to eventually find a neutral ground. Sally's old school friend put the idea in her head about surrogacy and even offered to be a surrogate until it was revealed that she was a murderer and her son was in care.
She bonded with autistic student Mickey Dunn and was the only person able to talk him down off a roof when he wanted to see if he could fly. She tutored him so that he was able to attend mainstream school and even gave him her shoes after he became obsessed with the fact that they were red.
Sally was tempted by Angie Russell's offer to be a surrogate but Flynn managed to convince her it was a crazy idea so Sally invited her foster sister Sophie to stay instead. Sophie was hurt to realise that Sally hadn't been honest about her reasons for inviting her to stay and Flynn was angry with her for becoming obsessed with the surrogacy idea.
They had a row about it but soon made up and Sally agreed to drop the surrogacy idea. When Sophie arrived Sally repeated her promise only for Sophie to say she'd be surrogate after all, delighting Sally and Flynn.