Rowan Marshall (born 24 November 1995) is a professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er playing for the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fro ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). He was drafted by St Kilda with their first selection and tenth overall in the 2017 rookie draft.

Early life and career

Rowan Marshall was born in 1995 to mother Jan and father Don (a Taranaki rugby union player), the eldest of three brothers.Rowan Marshall takes giant strides towards AFL
JUSTINE McCULLAGH-BEASY for The Standard. NOVEMBER 19 2014 Rowan moved with his parents to Queensland at the age of 18 months. At the age of 3, the family relocated to Victoria settling on a farm at Bolwarra, a few kilometres out of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

. Marshall participated in the

Auskick Auskick is a program designed to teach the basic skills of Australian football to children aged between 5 and 12. Auskick is a non-contact variant of the sport. It began in Australia and is now a nationwide non-selective program. It has incre ...

program at

Ballarat, Victoria Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Australian census, 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australi ...

As a junior, Marshall was attracted to the sport instead of his father's and cousins' preference of

Rugby Union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

. In his penultimate year of high school at Bayview College, Marshall was invited to train with the

Greater Western Victoria Rebels The Greater Western Victoria Rebels is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Talent League, the statewide under-18s competition in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. They recruit players from the Ballarat, Wimmera and Sou ...

. Training with the rebels involved a 3-hour each way journey for Marshall, and he played seven games for the club. In 2013 he joined the Portland Tigers in the inaugural Hampden League where he played 12 under-18s matches and kicked three goals in a losing grand final. The following year in 2014 Marshall played for the

North Ballarat Rebels The Greater Western Victoria Rebels is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Talent League, the statewide under-18s competition in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. They recruit players from the Ballarat, Wimmera and Sou ...

and was included in the Vic Country team. Against the Murray Bushrangers in June Marshall was moved into the forward line in the fourth quarter to kick three important match-winning goals, and he recorded 50-plus hit-outs in two consecutive games, against

Geelong Falcons The Geelong Falcons is a youth Australian rules football representative club in the Talent League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition in Victoria, Australia. The club takes in talented junior players from the Geelong, Colac and Warr ...

and Eastern Ranges, in July. At the end of the season he was invited to the draft combine and was interviewed by several clubs. However, Marshall was not selected in the

2014 AFL Draft The 2014 AFL draft consists of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) can trade and recruit players following the completion of the 2014 AFL season. Additions to each club's playing list are not allowed ...

. He continued playing in Ballarat with the North Ballarat Roosters and Ballarat league side Sebastopol, and studied at

Federation University Federation University Australia (FedUni) is a public university based in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It is the modern descendant of the School of Mines Ballarat, established in 1870 as the fourth tertiary institution in Australi ...

. Marshall finally met with St Kilda in 2016, who had been scouting him. Marshall was ultimately drafted in the Rookie Draft on 28 November 2016.

AFL career

2017–2020

Marshall made his St Kilda debut in the forty-two point loss to at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

in round eighteen of the 2017 season. At the end of the 2017 season, Marshall signed a two-year contract extension. In the 2018 season, Marshall played 12 senior games for St Kilda and was elevated to the senior playing list following the season, having spent 2 seasons on the rookie list. Marshall played 20 senior games in the 2019 season, averaging 29 hitouts and 18 disposals. He finished second in the club's best & fairest award, behind midfielder

Seb Ross Sebastian Ross (born 7 May 1993) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Ross is a dual Trevor Barker Award winner and won the Ian Stewart Medal i ...

, as well as receiving the club's Lenny Hayes Players' Player Award, as voted by his teammates. Marshall also collected 7

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

votes in 2019, as well as being acknowledged by Champion Data as the most improved player in the AFL based on statistics. Marshall was partnered in the ruck with Paddy Ryder for the 2020 season, after playing predominantly as a sole ruckman the previous season. In a

Covid Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

-limited season, Marshall played a key role in the Saints' reaching finals for the first time since 2011, playing all 19 possible games which included two finals.

2021 season

Marshall suffered a stress injury in his foot ahead of the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, and missed the first three matches of the year. Marshall returned to the side in the Round Four win over West Coast, but missed the Saints' Round Five loss to Richmond due to a five-day break with the Saints' medical staff recommending a cautious approach following a plantar fascia injury in the West Coast game. Marshall returned in Round 6 and played four games before further injuring his plantar fascia and undergoing surgery. Marhsall made his return from injury in Round 15. Marshall and teammate Darragh Joyce were forced into isolation after they attended a

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

game which turned out to be a COVID-19 hotspot. As a result, Marshall, who had flown to Perth, missed the Saints' Round 19 clash with West Coast which St Kilda lost by eight points.Marshall returned the following week, after completing isolation, and played in the Saints' final four games of the season. In his return against Carlton in Round 20, Marshall had 46 hitouts, five tackles, one goal and 22 disposals. Marshall also impressed with 22 disposals and two goals against Fremantle in Round 23.

Personal life

Marshall was born in New Zealand to Kiwi parents but moved to a 40-hectare property in

Portland, Victoria Portland ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, and is the oldest European settlement in the state. It is also the main urban centre in the Shire of Glenelg and is located on Portland Bay. As of the 2021 Australian census, 20 ...

at a young age. His father Don played rugby in the Taranaki region, and worked at the Portland wharf as well as on the family farm. Marshall's cousins, Rhys Marshall and Callum Gibbins, are both professional rugby union players. During the COVID-19 hiatus of the AFL season in 2020, Marshall assisted his family run their 320 head of cattle farm.

Statistics

:''Statistics are correct to the end of Round 23 2022'' , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , 43 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 5 , , 9 , , 14 , , 4 , , 2 , , 5 , , 0 , , 0 , , 5 , , 9 , , 14 , , 4 , , 2 , , 5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , 43 , , 12 , , 6 , , 12 , , 85 , , 75 , , 160 , , 67 , , 28 , , 113 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 7.0 , , 6.2 , , 13.3 , , 5.5 , , 2.3 , , 9.4 , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , 19 , , 20 , , 8 , , 2 , , 198 , , 157 , , 355 , , 83 , , 69 , , 569 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 9.9 , , 7.8 , , 17.7 , , 4.1 , , 3.4 , , 28.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , 19 , , 19 , , 13 , , 11 , , 192 , , 83 , , 266 , , 83 , , 41 , , 277 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 10.1 , , 3.8 , , 14.0 , , 4.3 , , 2.1 , , 14.5 , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , 19 , , 13 , , 9 , , 5 , , 137 , , 66 , , 203 , , 63 , , 39 , , 241 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 10.5 , , 5.0 , , 15.6 , , 4.8 , , 3.0 , , 18.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , 19 , , 21 , , 9 , , 7 , , 218 , , 118 , , 336 , , 97 , , 66 , , 484 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 10.3 , , 5.6 , , 16.0 , , 4.6 , , 3.1 , , 23.0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 86 ! 45 ! 38 ! 835 ! 499 ! 1334 ! 397 ! 245 ! 1689 ! 0.5 ! 0.4 ! 9.7 ! 5.8 ! 15.5 ! 4.6 ! 2.8 ! 19.6 Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Rowan 1995 births Living people St Kilda Football Club players North Ballarat Football Club players Greater Western Victoria Rebels players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) 21st-century Australian sportsmen