Fears mount as Port Adelaide forward Todd Marshall undergoes new brain scan with AFL future in doubt

Port Adelaide forward Todd Marshall has undergone a new brain scan as concerns mount over his AFL future following a fifth concussion in three years.

The 25-year-old was subbed out of last week’s semi-final and will miss this Friday night’s preliminary final against Sydney.

There is no guarantee he will be ruled fit to play in the grand final on September 28, should the Power defeat the Swans, but it appears an immediate return would be a long shot.

Marshall had an appointment with a specialist on Monday to begin seeking clarity on his future.

“Todd’s ok, yeah, ok — as good as he can be,” Port assistant coach Tyson Goldsack said.

“We don’t know what it looks like for Todd.

“We know that it’s unfortunate and he’s got a history so we want to make sure that him as a person is ok and the footy is second to that.”

Goldsack said there is nothing to speak about “other than making sure that he is ok, mentally he’s ok and we’re there to support him”.

“The footy part is just footy and that’s a long way down the road for where we need to be thinking for him,” he said.

Four players have retired in each of the past two years as a result of concussions.

Melbourne midfielder Angus Brayshaw and Collingwood pair Nathan Murphy and Josh Carmichael all called time this year after repeated head knocks.

But just one was enough to end the career of Bulldogs draftee Aiden O’Driscoll before he could even play a game.

Marshall’s latest concussion stemmed from a head knock in the second quarter of Friday night’s win over Hawthorn but the formal diagnosis was only made after the match.

He passed a test after the blow and returned to the field, only to be subbed out at three-quarter time when he began to feel symptoms.

The timeline threatened to raise questions about Port Adelaide’s handling of the case, with the club having previously been fined for breaching concussion protocols, but there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.

“I think the doctors did a good job,” Goldsack.

“They assessed him, he felt fine, almost as if the initial assessment wasn’t required.

“We have to do that kind of thing, we didn’t take any precautions there. We made sure we did the test, he got cleared for that.

“When he reported that he wasn’t feeling 100 per cent we decided to we had to take him out.”

Marshall is likely to be replaced by veteran Charlie Dixon, who missed the semi-final when he was ruled out one hour before the game due to a virus.

Dixon and defender Ryan Burton (calf) will have their availability confirmed with fitness tests later in the week.

Kurt Farrell’s bid to earn a recall appears doomed despite stepping up at training as he bids to return from a hamstring injury suffered on August 25.

“He wouldn’t be training if he didn’t think he was a chance,” Goldsack said.

“He has got nothing to lose. He can push it as hard as he wants knowing that if he re-injures it at training, then at least he gave it a go.

“That’s his mindset, he will just keep pushing it along.

“We will just see where the next few days leads ... it’s probably not a risk we really want to take. We know the quality player that he is, but do you risk it in a prelim?

“We don’t know yet, it’s only what Monday, so we’ll just see how he progresses.”