TAKE MORE MARKS and kick more goals. Those are the simple elements that make up Todd Marshall’s season goals.
Really, the 22-year-old is chasing consistency.
At his best, Marshall can be game-breaking with his size, agility, sure hands and clean skills making him a tough match up for most AFL backlines.
But given he has only been able to play 34 games in four seasons, the 198cm forward has not quite been able to have the impact he would have liked.
After minor surgery on his thumb in the off-season, Marshall is now fully fit and about to complete his second full pre-season – and he has set some simple goals for 2021.
“Obviously, you want to play as many AFL games as you can each year and for me it’s about consistency,” he told portadelaidefc.com.au.
“I need to shorten the gap between my good and bad games and find that middle ground.
“Hopefully I can mark a few more balls and kick a few more goals and shorten that gap between my good and bad.”
There was plenty of good on show in Saturday’s internal trial game with Marshall booting two goals and taking some strong marks both deep and on the wing.
2020 was his best year since arriving from the Deniliquin Rams in New South Wales in the 2016 National Draft.
He played a career-high 14 games, only missing five games because of a broken thumb, and he booted 11 goals, none more important than a memorable long-range sealer against Geelong in the Qualifying Final.
“It was a pretty tight game all night and for me to kick that goal gives me a lot of confidence that I can stand up in that pressure,” Marshall said.
“As a group we all took a lot of experience out of it and it drives us.
“The Preliminary Final loss, it has been touched on a fair bit about how it’s driving us this pre-season so if we get in that position again, we hopefully have enough experience now to learn from it.”
In the meantime, Marshall has been working on his endurance to give him the option to play higher up the ground.
“I’ll probably mix it up a bit (between playing deep and playing higher up the ground),” he explained.
“I’m trying to work on my running to be able to get up the ground and play a bit higher so I can get the ball and use my skills coming inside 50, but I’ll do whatever the team needs and if I need to be the one to create a contest then I want to be the person who can do that.”
Marshall has endured plenty in his short career, having moved away from home as a teenager five years ago and endured injury and loss on a personal front since.
He is now sharing those experiences as a mentor to another young tall forward, 2020 draftee Ollie Lord.
“It is good for me to be able to use my knowledge and leadership and keep building on that,” Marshall explained.
“Ollie is from interstate, which is similar to me, so it’s good to be able to chat with him and see how he’s going and teach him things while we’re out on the track.
“I think it’s good for me personally and hopefully Ollie can learn a few things.”
