How two young key forwards drafted 35 spots apart could define the Showdown
Elliott Himmelberg was taken as a third-round pick as Port swooped on more heralded Todd Marshall at the 2016 AFL Draft. Now the pair has key roles to play in Saturday’s Showdown.
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He was the key forward taken as a third-round pick who largely went under the radar as Port Adelaide swooped on more heralded prospect Todd Marshall at the 2016 national draft.
But three years on, Crow Elliott Himmelberg is making his case to be every bit as good as the tall who Power great Warren Tredrea claims is “the key to Port Adelaide’s future’’.
While Himmelberg took time to find his feet in the AFL system and did not make his AFL debut until round 23 last season — a year after Marshall — he has this year been statistically better than the player taken 35 picks ahead of him at the 2016 draft.
Marshall, from Victorian under-18 side Murray Bushrangers, went at No. 16 and Himmelberg, from NEAFL club Redland, was picked at 51 — a year after the Crows bid a first-round pick for his brother, Harry, but lost out to GWS, who claimed him at No. 16 as an academy selection.
As the two 20-year-olds prepare to go head-to-head in Showdown 46 at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night, Himmelberg has churned out the better performances this season.
In three consecutive games, from rounds five-to-seven, the 198cm, 96kg key forward with the blond hair — controversially preferred to dropped veteran Josh Jenkins — has averaged 11.3 disposals, 5.3 marks, 3.7 score involvements, 2.3 tackles and kicked four goals.
He is averaging 66 SuperCoach points.
The lighter Marshall, 198cm and 87kg, has played 15 games since debuting in round 22, 2017.
In five games this year, he has averaged 9.4 disposals, 3 marks, 4 score involvements, 1.4 tackles and booted three goals.
In fairness to Marshall, a former Australian under-age cricketer who was much more highly rated at the 2016 draft, he has battled major off-field issues since joining Port, tragically losing both of his parents.
Tredrea — the Power’s only premiership skipper and its greatest goalkicker with 549 in 255 games from 1997-2010 — is so sold on Marshall that he says he “has the right ingredients to dominate for years to come’’.
He says Marshall’s game is built on so much more than the raw statistics.
“In an era where many players win junk possessions with little influence on a game, Marshall’s performance was refreshing,’’ Tredrea wrote in The Advertiser after Marshall had helped curtail the influence of West Coast backline star Jeremy McGovern in the Power's stunning eight-goal upset of the premier in Perth in round five.
“Marshall is still five or six years away from playing his best football but the signs have always been there that he can seriously play and he’s starting to emerge.
“It's impossible to see Marshall not taking the AFL world by storm in the years to come.’’
But Himmelberg, who for two years has gone under the radar as he worked on his craft in the SANFL, also is starting to make people sit up and take notice.
He impressed with Queensland and the Allies at the 2016 Under-18 National Championships before suffering a broken leg which ended his season prematurely and prevented him from testing at the AFL Draft Combine and is a physical player who can take a strong mark and is a reliable finisher in front of goal.
Himmelberg played a key role in the Crows’ hard-fought 17-point win in a low-scoring slugfest against Fremantle at Adelaide Oval last Sunday, finishing with 13 disposals, six marks, a goal and 81 SuperCoach points while also providing support for impressive seven-game ruckman Reilly O’Brien.
This came after he had 12 disposals, five marks, eight hit-outs and kicked 2.2 in the crucial win against St Kilda.
“He’s a fierce competitor for a guy who’s pretty laid back,’’ Adelaide coach Don Pyke said.
“He has a great feel for the game, he moves well, competes really strongly and he’s got a good feel for when to lead, when to stay, all those sorts of things.
“He’s at a real baby phase of his career but we’re excited by what he’s bringing.”
Captain Taylor Walker described Himmelberg as a “smart kid who reads the play really well’’.
“His leading patterns are outstanding, he’s competitive, has fitted in just nicely and is playing some good footy,’’ he said.
How the two young forwards perform on Saturday could define the Showdown.
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