Todd Marshall 100 games: Port forward reflects on challenging career to date

Travis Boak’s 350th milestone was huge for Port Adelaide. But as Chad Cornes says, Todd Marshall’s 100th game is massive in a different way.

Todd Marshall ahead of his 100th game. Picture: PAFC

There have been plenty of 100 game milestones at Port Adelaide.

But few, if any, will be as special for the Power coaches, players and football department than Todd Marshall’s on Saturday night.

The 25-year-old will notch up the mark against Melbourne nearly eight years after stepping through the doors at Alberton.

It has been an eight years involving a challenge few young men, never mind young footy players, have had to go through with the loss of both his parents within six months before he turned 20.

But the resilience that Marshall has shown to not only return to footy but then to silence the critics, and there were some as the key forward took some time to fully find his place in the Power’s side, makes Port Adelaide’s latest milestone a special one for the club.

Todd Marshall ahead of his 100th game. Picture: PAFC

“I’ve gone on record to express my love for Todd as a person and as a player,” Power great and current forwards coach Chad Cornes said.

“I have learnt a lot from him about how to deal with adversity, not just in footy and having an injury here and there but what he has had to deal with in his family life.

“Not many people at that age, that I have met, have gone through something like that and the way he has handled that has been exceptional.

“He is just one of the great teammates, well loved by players, coaches, supporters alike.

“Boaky’s milestone (Travis Boak’s 350th game last week) was huge, this one is going to be huge in a different way.”

To be called “one of the great teammates” by the man who typified what it meant to play for the Power jumper, just shows how highly regarded Marshall is at Alberton.

Power senior coach Ken Hinkley has never hidden how much of a fan he is of Marshall, for his ability to see the game in ways other players can’t with his footy IQ and the little things he does that might not come up on the stat sheet.

Ken Hinkley gets ready to embrace Marshall after a win. Picture: Sarah Reed

And then there is the resilience he has shown off the field.

Marshall described it to this masthead as “being thrown in the deep end”.

That’s putting it mildly.

In the space of six months the teenager from Denilquin in New South Wales lost first his mother Mary to cancer and then father Robert to a sudden death.

“I probably talk about it with Ken a bit about being thrown in the deep end when I was 18/19 with everything that happened with mum and dad,” Marshall said.

“I had to grow up pretty quick and I think it took me a few years to find who I was and what sort of person I wanted to be coming out of that.

“But I am really comfortable where I am at now within this group and as a part of this club so it did make me mature.”

Hinkley has been an unashamed fan of Marshall, preaching patience with the precocious young talent in public.

In private the influence on Marshall has been huge, especially in that first month and a bit when he was away from the club on compassionate leave before he made his return to football.

“He (Hinkley) has been massive, he is probably the main reason that I came back to play footy as quickly as I did post that,” Marshall said.

“Over the last seven to eight years it has been a massive part of why I love this club and why I’m so driven to keep playing footy.”

It has taken time for Marshall to establish himself. Picture: Getty Images

THE PATIENCE GAME

Patience hasn’t been preached just towards fans regarding Marshall’s development.

There has been plenty towards Marshall himself.

His third game for the Power came in the 2017 elimination final against West Coast at Adelaide Oval.

It took until the 2021 season for Marshall to play more than 20 AFL games in a season for Port Adelaide.

“It probably did take me a few years to get that confidence within me and that comes with being a key position player I guess and growing into your body and getting confidence from that,” he said.

“Probably over the last three to four years I have felt that I belong and understood my role for the team and how best I can help the team.

“It was a little bit (hard to stay patient), I got drafted with Sam Powell-Pepper and he played really early and I think he is coming up to 150 soon so he is a bit ahead of me.

“When you are 18/19 you do want to play and it is a bit harder to stay patient. But looking back on it now I think it was what was best for me and my career and my development.

“As an 18/19-year-old it probably was hard to stay patient but now as a 25-year-old I can see what the point of it was.”

In 2022 Marshall had the season Power fans were waiting for, and Port coaches knew he could have.

Marshall’s breakout season came in 2022. Picture: Getty Images

With spearhead Charlie Dixon only playing 12 games for the season, it was Marshall who stood up for Hinkley’s side in their poor start to the campaign.

In what was a rare bright spark from the season for the Power, Marshall kicked 45 goals in a breakout year for him.

“It probably was just time in the system,” he said.

“Charlie wasn’t playing so I had a bit more of a role in the team and a bit more pressure on my shoulders which I really liked that year.

“Charlie coming back has just made it a lot easier, our forward line is quite set and quite mature and we all know what to expect from each other.

“Our roles are very clear and hopefully we can keep playing some decent footy.”

Early last year it looked as if Marshall would continue this trajectory with a fast start to the season.

But another challenge emerged.

Across the second half of the 2023 campaign, Marshall battled a persistent hip injury.

It meant he barely trained early on during the week, and when he got to the game he was so restricted by it that he doubted he would make the distance at times with some kicks and had his meticulous goalkicking routine interrupted.

“It was tough, not being able to kick like I could normally kick and the pain it brought did rattle me a little bit and it probably took a toll in the end during the finals,” he said.

“I sort of want to prove people wrong, in that [the 2023] finals series won’t define me and hopefully over this year and the next couple of years I can sort of get that consistency back in my body, be injury free and being able to get on the park as much as I can.”

The Power forward kicked into gear in round 2. Picture: Getty Images

Off-season surgery has rectified the issue and while he is yet to get back into golf, Marshall - who recently signed a five-year contract extension - looks to have his groove back.

He ranks No.1 in the competition so far for marks inside 50 average with six per game.

And while he had an off-day in front of goal against West Coast in round 1, kicking 0.3, he kicked 4.2 against Richmond in Round 2.

Cornes said all going well, Marshall would become the leader of the Power’s forward line this year.

He agreed.

“I’m not a natural vocal leader in a sense, I’m probably more want to do it through my actions,” he said.

“But growing up and with my knowledge of the game plan and that I have to become that vocal leader and now we have such an inexperienced leadership group with Connor (Rozee) and Zak (Butters) and the others I feel like I am quite integrated in that and can be a massive part of the club going forward.”

It shows just how much Marshall has grown up in his time at Alberton.

“I feel that off-field I have a fair bit of resilience through everything that has happened and I try and translate that onto the field and try to not let little things get a hold of me and stay within a game,” he said.

“I think with all that happening so young in my career and life it has given me a good perspective on everything, if I was to play a bad game I can sort of put it past me and understand what is really important within life and within a footy club.”

Originally published as Todd Marshall 100 games: Port forward reflects on challenging career to date