Power coach Ken Hinkley hails Todd Marshall’s resilience
PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has hailed exciting young forward Todd Marshall’s resilience, revealing he was so “desperate’’ to play AFL again following the death of his father that he played through injury in the SANFL to push his case for a recall.
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PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has hailed exciting young forward Todd Marshall’s resilience, revealing he was so “desperate’’ to play AFL again following the death of his father that he played through injury in the SANFL to push his case for a recall.
After taking a month’s compassionate leave from the club to deal with the shock passing of his dad Robert, which followed the loss of his mum, Mary, to cancer six months earlier, Marshall resumed in the SANFL three weeks ago but hurt his shoulder in his comeback match against North Adelaide.
Port Adelaide forward Todd Marshall says he was ‘humbled’ by the crowd support on Thursday night
Hinkley said the gun teenage tall should have missed at least two matches but he was back in action after one and did enough against Central District last week to make an emotional AFL return against the Western Bulldogs in the Power's convincing 57-point win at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.
“He was really keen to get back, you could just sense in the past couple of weeks that Toddy was ready,’’ Hinkley said.
“He got a good whack in a SANFL game which probably would have put him out for an extra week but he was desperate to play last week out at Centrals so he could push his case to get ready to play this game.’’
Marshall, 19, had a modest eight disposals against the Bulldogs but his influence went beyond the raw statistics.
Treated like a “brother’’ by his Port teammates, Marshall was shown tremendous support by the Power fans with a minute’s applause at the 13-minute mark of the game for their No. 13.
In another touching moment, opponent Hayden Crozier went to the Deliniquin product to pat him on the back while the crowd was honouring him.
“Football’s a great community, we all understand that, we see it time and time again,” Hinkley said.
“This week, we’ve seen it with Toddy and everyone was really pleased for him.
“I reckon his teammates were busting for him to get one (a goal), they were sitting there almost waiting for him to get one but he missed a couple (in the first quarter) that he would normally get.
“But it’s a great result for us to have him back playing football and a great result for his mum and dad, who I’m sure are looking down from above, pretty proud of their boy.”
Marshall was kept away from the media after the game but he took to Instagram on Friday morning to thank the fans for their support.
“Love this club,” Marshall wrote.
“Thank you to the fans, last night was very humbling.”
Teammate Lindsay Thomas told The Advertiser the Power players treat Marshall like a brother and that they were “really proud’’ of him.
“It’s been an incredibly difficult time for Todd and his family but he's a great kid, a brave kid, and he knows he’s got 100 per cent of everyone at our footy club,’’ Thomas said.
“We’re his second family and we’ll help to look after him.’’
While Marshall made a brave return to AFL ranks, another positive for the Power was Hinkley revealing that rebounding defender Matthew Broadbent is close to playing his first match of the season after a long-term ankle injury.
“He’s nearly ready, he’ll play after the SANFL bye (next week), all things being equal,’’ he said.
andrew.capel@news.com.au
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Originally published as Power coach Ken Hinkley hails Todd Marshall’s resilience