The Moment on Monday: Todd Marshall answers the challenge to play more contested footy with eight tackles in Power’s win over Sydney
There were five minutes left on the clock, the Power was up by 38 points and the game was shot when Todd Marshall got up and chased down James Bell to catch him holding the ball. That tackle and more in this week’s Moment on Monday column.
- Robbo: Pathetic Bombers make Woosha a target
- Match report: Crows may rue costly nine minutes
- Match report: Power can dare to dream of top eight at last
- Analysis: Charlie’s in charge at Power again
- Live ladder: Where every club is placed on the run home
From the moment Todd Marshall walked through the door at Port Adelaide he’s been seen as a precocious young talent with a high football IQ but this season he’s been challenged to get his hands dirty and his response could not have been more emphatic on the weekend.
Marshall was awarded four free kicks in Saturday’s 47-point win over Sydney but ‘awarded’ is the wrong word because he won them. He earned them with determination, attitude and intent through his tackling.
The four free kicks were because he hunted down and caught George Hewett, Jordan Dawson, Aliir Aliir and finally James Bell all holding the ball.
Two resulted in goals but the one that will stick in the memory of Port Adelaide supporters and coaches at the game was the last one on Bell.
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With five minutes left on the clock, the Power up by 38 points and the game well and truly shot, Marshall was still hungry and motivated enough to catch the first-gamer on the wing.
Moments earlier Marshall was pushed over by Dane Rampe in the marking contest and went to ground. Rampe won the footy and handballed to Jake Lloyd who handballed to Bell on the move.
But all the while Marshall, 198cm and 87kg, had got back up and was giving chase.
He not only caught Bell but wrapped him up in a tackle, swung him around and won the free kick.
It was his eighth tackle for the game — second only behind teammate Dan Houston who had nine — on a wet and slippery day that suits strong inside midfielders not tall lanky forwards.
But that’s the thing about Marshall — and fourth-game ruckman Peter Ladhams who both signed contract extensions with Port during the week — they are mobile talls who can also play small and it inspires everyone around them.
“That’s huge,” Power forward Charlie Dixon said of Marshall’s tackle on Bell.
“They’re our one percenters and what we build our game on, our contested ball, ground balls, tackles and everything else.
“Yes we want to kick goals but that stuff gets the morale of the team up, blokes see that and they lift.
“He’s nearly 200cm and doing that and having eight tackles. We want our boys to rip and take those tackles and do everything they can to keep the ball in our forward 50m.”
The same goes for Ladhams who had seven clearances from his 21 disposals and is keeping premiership ruckman Scott Lycett out of the side.
“He’s unreal mate, he’s very agile, he’s quick, strong, can take marks and kick goals — and he’s another midfielder,” Dixon said.
“But he’s 200cm and to be able to move the way he does, you shouldn’t be allowed to do that.
“He’s had some good coaches around him and from where he was last year to now is unbelievable, and if he keeps playing like that he’ll go a long, long way.”
So much has been made of Port’s first-year players Connor Rozee, Zak Butters and Xavier Duursma this season and rightly so, but to have Marshall, 20, and Ladhams, 21, emerge and re-sign until the end of 2022 is just as significant.
“I said ‘you bloody idiots, you’re starting to play good footy, why didn’t you wait a bit longer?,” Dixon joked on Saturday night.
It wasn’t just those two who rolled up their sleeves on Saturday. Charlie Dixon hit packs hard and Paddy Ryder chased down Aliir Aliir with a tackle out of the centre square.
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has been patient with Marshall who he is an unashamed fan of.
Two years ago he picked him for Port Adelaide’s elimination final against West Coast in just the third game of his career, then after seven games last year and a career-best pre-season Marshall was expected to kick on in 2019.
Hinkley picked him for Round 1 and 2 but he has been in and out of the side for just seven games before his 11-disposal, eight-tackle, two-goal performance against the Swans on Saturday afternoon.
“I’m a big Todd Marshall fan, I haven’t hidden away from that,” Hinkley said.
“He’s a really talented young player and he’s learning to play a more contested style of game. He took a contested mark which is really important and made tackles, his footy brain is really important in the front half, it was a really strong game from Todd.
“And that’s a credit to the program that we’ve been prepared to leave him at the SANFL for a good period of time and Bass (Nathan Bassett) the way he’s coached him to make sure he’s learnt the way to come back and play and he’s got some results.”
GAMES NOTES
CROWS V EAGLES
ONE of the hardest men to ever play the game and one of its greatest ever key forwards were gushing over Darcy Fogarty and for good reason on Sunday night. Dermott Brereton said “they don’t breed 19 year olds like that where I come from” in relation to Fogarty’s physical presence while Matthew Pavlich was impressed with his leading patterns calling him “an old school full forward”. Fogarty finished with five goals in just his second senior game of the year. Then there was his run and kick to find Eddie Betts’ for a goal in the final quarter. Hard to know whether that will appease fans who have been calling for him all year or make them even more frustrated that they had to wait so long. Fogarty never set the world on fire in the SANFL this year but more than belongs at the top level.
KYLE Hartigan did it the hard way to get onto the Crows’ list then defied the knockers to play his 100th game yesterday. He and Daniel Talia were huge in defence under an avalanche of West Coast inside 50s. Hartigan started on Jack Darling and won the first three one-on-ones and laid two big tackles on Elliot Yeo at full speed in the middle of the ground and later on Liam Ryan to catch him holding the ball. Talia meanwhile was just as good minding Josh Kennedy and his spoil on Liam Ryan on the wing highlighted his workrate.
SAM Jacobs should play his 200th game this weekend, the bigger question is whether it will be with or without Reilly O’Brien. Jacobs did enough against Tom Hickey to keep his spot particularly after O’Brien didn’t play SANFL to push his case. Jacobs finished with 36 hit-outs, a modest 11 disposals but four marks including a goal-saving one in defence just before half-time.
HOW much did it hurt to lose Rory Sloane? He’d been huge in the first half (17 disposals at 82 per cent efficiency) and four clearances as an inside midfielder and a dangerous presence inside 50m. When caught in friendly fire by Matt Crouch just after the long break the tide turned quickly.
THE Crouch brothers were enormous against the Eagles. They had 78 disposals between them (33 contested), 17 clearances and laid 10 tackles. That will go close to 1-2 in the best-and-fairest by season’s end.
POWER V SWANS
JUSTIN Westhoff has now played the past three games in defence for the Power and it’s working. It’s also a reason why Dougal Howard hasn’t been able to get back in the side straight away. Again his versatility was highlighted against Sydney when he played on anyone from Sam Reid to Daniel Menzel and Isaac Heeney.
ON current evidence the mid-season draft was no novelty factor and Cam Sutcliffe is no flash in the pan. After his disastrous Power debut a month ago — which wasn’t his fault because his teammates should have left him alone to do his job on Lachie Neale — Ken Hinkley has persisted with him and it’s paying off. Sutcliffe has gone from negating forward to offensive threat in the past two weeks and his two goals including the one after the siren on Saturday put the Power back in the eight.
PETER Ladhams had 19 hit-outs albeit against a second string opposition ruck at the Swans, but he also takes it out of the air with confidence and finds time and space to distribute it to Port’s runners. What a find.
DESPITE some concerns Port would be too tall in the wet on Saturday, there was a moment just before half-time that showed how well their talls are working together. Paddy Ryder took the boundary throw-in, Peter Ladhams took a contested mark on the wing, kicked to Charlie Dixon who took a contested mark inside 50m and kicked the goal.
THE kids have starred this season and Travis Boak wound back the clock, but how about the improvement from Port’s mid-tier led by Darcy Byrne-Jones, Karl Amon and Dan Houston this season?
MR ONE PER CENTER
WHO are the unsung heroes of SA footy? The players who have an impact on their team without hitting the stats sheet? Champion Data records one per centers by tallying spoils, knock-ons, shepherds and smothers every game. Here’s the leaderboard at Port Adelaide and Adelaide after Round 21:
149: Daniel Talia (Crows)
144: Tom Clurey (Power)
126: Tom Jonas (Power)
107: Dougal Howard (Power)
98: Jake Kelly (Crows)
89: Alex Keath (Crows)
83: Kyle Hartigan (Crows)
77: Justin Westhoff (Power)
75: Scott Lycett (Power)
64: Dan Houston (Power)
63: Paddy Ryder (Power)
SUPERCOACH TOP 10
TOP 10 SuperCoach scores from Port Adelaide and Adelaide in Round 21:
1. Matt Crouch (Adel) 161
2. Connor Rozee (Port) 119
3. Darcy Byrne-Jones (Port) 110
4. Peter Ladhams (Port) 105
5. Tom Jonas (Port) 105
6. Brad Crouch (Adel) 103
7. Charlie Dixon (Port) 98
8. Sam Powell-Pepper (Port) 98
9. Ollie Wines (Port) 93
10. Bryce Gibbs (Adel) 92
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
They don’t breed 19-year-olds like that where I come from.
— Dermott Brereton on Darcy Fogarty on Fox Footy yesterday.
TIPS
An early look at Round 22 tips:
MELBOURNE to break out of its funk and beat Sydney, CARLTON over St Kilda, BRISBANE over Geelong at the Gabba, COLLINGWOOD to beat Adelaide, PORT ADELAIDE to beat North Melbourne, FREMANTLE over Essendon to make things interesting, RICHMOND over West Coast at the MCG, GWS over the Dogs and HAWTHORN over Gold Coast.
Last week: 6 Running total: 113
POWER RANKINGS
1. BRISBANE (15-5)
Eight in a row and an absolute mauling of Gold Coast. The Lions remain on top of the power rankings with two games to go.
2. GEELONG (15-5)
Their win/loss pattern continued by taking care of North Melbourne. Not convinced they’re back to their best but have secured top four.
3. RICHMOND (14-6)
Standard win over Carlton but a nice way to celebrate Shane Edwards’ 250th game.
4. WEST COAST (15-5)
Had to grind that one out against the Crows, now bring on the Tigers this weekend.
5. COLLINGWOOD (13-7)
Beat Melbourne easily despite a slow start. Huge test coming to Adelaide this weekend.
6. GWS (12-8)
Shocking against the Hawks in the Canberra cold which is no excuse but their injury list is.
7. PORT ADELAIDE (10-10)
How exciting is their list. And when one of the oldest blokes like Paddy Ryder does that chase down tackle on Aliir Aliir out of the centre square it shows how badly he wants to be part of it.
8. WESTERN BULLDOGS (10-10)
Stunning performance and loved how flat they were when they conceded three late goals to the Bombers in the final quarter.
9. ADELAIDE (10-10)
Very, very encouraging performance. Midfield matched the fearsome Eagles trio of Shuey, Yeo and Gaff without Sloane in the last term. Defence was huge and Fogarty should be in the side to stay now.
10. HAWTHORN (9-11)
Vintage Clarkson making the Hawks embrace the snow and finals-bound Giants in Canberra like they were climbing Mount Everest.
11. ESSENDON (11-9)
Conceding 21 consecutive goals is more than just a bad loss. That could cost them finals.
12. ST KILDA (9-11)
Josh Bruce kicked the game-winner but I’d take Josh Battle’s goal-saving mark in defence moments after any day. Huge for Brett Ratten’s coaching aspirations.
13. FREMANTLE (9-11)
Still had faint hope of finals but couldn’t close it out against St Kilda in Melbourne.
14. CARLTON (6-14)
Four players with 30-plus possessions but Tigers too good.
15. NORTH MELBOURNE (8-12)
One goal a horrific night against Geelong but at least they weren’t as bad as Essendon.
16. SYDNEY (6-14)
Badly lacking a key target inside 50m. Fingers crossed Buddy Franklin gets back to play his 300th game in Round 23.
17. MELBOURNE (5-15)
This nightmare can’t end soon enough.
18. GOLD COAST (3-17)
The only positive is it could have been 150 points when the Lions were roaring in the third quarter.