PORT ADELAIDE forward Todd Marshall is targeting consistency and having more of an impact on games after agreeing to terms on a contract extension with the club.
Marshall’s latest deal will keep the 198cm big man at the club until the end of 2024 and comes on the back of fellow young guns Kane Farrell and Xavier Duursma re-signing.
At 23, Marshall is coming off a career-best season where he played all but three games and booted 24 goals.
At a press conference on Monday he said it was a simple decision to stay on at Alberton.
“It’s obviously really exciting,” Marshall said. “My management came to me in the off-season and said the club and them were in talks to extend and I was super keen to put pen to paper again and repay back what the club has given me and how much they have helped me become who I am today.
“It was a pretty easy decision from my end.”
Marshall was Port Adelaide’s first selection at pick number 16 overall at the 2016 National Draft.
The 23-year-old made his AFL debut against the Western Bulldogs in Round 22 2017, and now has 57 goals and 55 games to his name.
The agile tall has set himself on having a big impact in 2022.
“I want to be a lot more consistent, be able to put a good season on the board – not just a few games here or there,” he explained.
“I want to be able to put my impact on a game, compliment our other forwards and we’ve got some good forwards down there so hopefully I can help them and they can help me.”
Entering his third week of pre-season, Marshall is feeling fit and fresh following an off-season where he remained and trained in Adelaide instead of returning to his home town in the New South Wales Riverina region.
He said he had set up his roots and Adelaide was now his home.
“It’s been a bit of a different off season,” Marshall said. “I haven’t been able to go back to Deniliquin so I’ve been able to train here and be around our high-performance guys a bit more, which is good for me.
“I’m starting to build my life over here now with a house and my girlfriend over here so there’s less pull to go home now. It’s more every now and then I’ll get to see my older brothers and sisters.
“There’s not as much pull as when I was 18 or 19.
“I’ve had a lot of chats with (coach) Ken (Hinkley) and he always said there would come a time when you’ll feel like this is your home and there’ll be less pull for going home.”
Duursma’s contract extension will see him remain at Alberton with Marshall until the end of 2024, while Farrell, who is on the comeback trail from a knee reconstruction, is now tied to the club until the end of 2023.
