Rowan Marshall Biography

Rowan Marshall signs a five-year contract extension with St Kilda to remain at the club until the end of 2027.

Marshall could have signed a two-year extension that would have taken him through to free agency, but put pen to paper on a longer deal.

Rowan Marshall will miss the start of the 2021 season due to a stress injury in his foot.

"Fortunately, we identified the injury very early, Rowan is not in any pain and there's no fracture to the bone which is a good result.

"These types of injuries are ones that you just need to monitor and take your time with, so we'll work closely with Rowan to make sure it continues improve so that he can return as soon as possible early in the season," Saints chief operating officer Simon Lethlean said.

Rowan Marshall says he is eager to learn as much as possible from new Saints teammate Paddy Ryder.

"I'm stoked, over the moon. He was obviously an All Australian ruckman a couple of years ago and I'm pretty new to the ruck craft," Marshall said.

"I'm really looking forward to learning from him and I think we can be a pretty good duo. He's a really superb tap ruckman (and) that's probably one weakness in my game I need to work on.

"At times against bigger ruckman I was found out a little bit in the ruck craft, but with Paddy here I will be able to improve on that and it can become one of my strengths."

St Kilda recruit Paddy Ryder is enthused about the potential of his ruck partnership with Rowan Marshall.

"I'm certainly not coming to the club to take (ruck) time away from Rowan. He's going to be an awesome ruckman, he's already shown that," Ryder said.

"The big thing about myself and Rowan playing in the same team (is that) we can both play as a key forward … It gives us good flexibility to be able to change it up. It might be a week-by-week thing …

"I'm really looking forward to it and I think it's going to be a really good partnership."

Seb Ross claims his second Trevor Barker Award as St Kilda's best and fairest for the 2019 AFL season.

On an emotion-filled night where the Saints honoured club legend Danny Frawley, Ross (170 votes) backed up his efforts from 2017 ahead of Rowan Marshall (152) and Jack Steele (151).

In his typically selfless manner, Ross also paid tribute to Frawley who formed a close bond with the vice-captain and his teammates as a specialist coach in 2016 and 2017.

"Tonight's not about me, I think the night and rightly so has to be about Danny and what he brought to the footy club and the whole footy fraternity," Ross said.

"He's extended his olive branch a long way and he's influenced so many lives and he'll be sorely missed by many of us and he'll leave an everlasting impression on all of us."

Rowan Marshall signs a new three-year deal with St Kilda to remain at the club until the end of 2022.

"His performances and the way he has embraced the challenge of his new role this year is reflective of the overall attitude with which he approaches his football," St Kilda list manager James Gallagher said.

"He's a professional, determined and passionate young man, and we believe he has a really exciting future ahead of him here at the club."

Rowan Marshall has made the St Kilda ruck position his own in recent weeks but admits it took time for him to learn how to ruck.

"Centre bounces was the one I had a little bit of trouble with early on, but I've certainly learned a lot more and have a lot more in my trick bag now," Marshall said.

"I just try to give the ruckmen different looks each week. It's just about changing it up. It's like a game of chess really, with the other ruckmen at the centre bounce."

Rowan Marshall is rewarded for an encouraging 2018 season by being upgraded to the Saints' senior list.

"Rowan's worked hard to prove himself at the top level since coming in as a rookie," St Kilda head of list management James Gallagher said.

"We're really happy with his progress as a footballer, and he showed some really promising signs when he came into the senior side this year."

St Kilda rewards New Zealand-born key-position prospect Rowan Marshall with a two-year contract.

Marshall kicked 22 goals in 16 VFL games this season for Sandringham and impressed enough to be elevated to the senior list mid-year and earn an AFL debut against Sydney in round 18.

"Being a bit older, he was better placed to cope with the increased training demands and professionalism required at the elite level," Saints chief operating officer Ameet Bains said.

"Early on in the season, he was quite dominant as a forward for Sandringham, where his clean hands and contested marking were a feature.

"As the season wore on, he also showed his potential to hold down a key defensive post. With another strong pre-season under his belt, we are confident he can improve again in 2018."

Rowan Marshall makes his AFL debut for St Kilda at the SCG with 14 disposals (5 kicks and 9 handballs), 4 marks, 2 tackles and 5 hitouts in a 42-point loss to Sydney.

St Kilda selects mature-age North Ballarat utility Rowan Marshall with pick No. 10 in the 2016 Rookie Draft.