Marshall back for Pioneers after 'nice little break'

Adelaide 36ers swingman Nick Marshall will make his return to the court this Friday night after spending nearly a month on the sidelines.

Marshall injured his left ankle in a late training session mishap last month, which has seen him miss the past five matches for Mount Gambier Pioneers in the NBL1 South conference.

The 198cm guard/forward, who will play against Geelong United at Wulanda Recreation Centre on Friday night, said even though he didn’t like being on the sidelines, the ankle injury might be a blessing in disguise.

“It was pretty hard being a spectator,” Marshall said.

“But it’s also been a nice little break, I’ve had been playing non-stop for so long, I don’t remember the last time I wasn’t playing.

“So, it’s been good to have a little break, do some rehab and watch my little brother take over.”

Marshall’s brother, Dylan, moved to the Pioneers from NBL1 Central club North Adelaide Rockets in the off-season and was one of the 23 players who attended the Adelaide 36ers Two-Day Development Player tryouts earlier this month.

“He’s been balling out all season, so that was good to watch,” Marshall said.

Marshall, who hasn’t played since May 19, said the ankle injury was the first “big injury” he has had during his career.

“I did one (ankle injury) in College but it wasn’t as big as this one,” he said.

READ MORE
NBL1 Wrap: McCarron leads Bearcats to top billing
WATCH: 2023 Development Player two-day camp wrap
How 36ers Ferguson inspired NBL Next Stars

Marshall said Pioneers coach Richard Hill, who was an Adelaide 36ers assistant coach for two seasons, wasn’t thrilled when he went down clutching his ankle last month.

“After what had happened with our team previously (both imports were injured at the time), he wasn’t too happy, but we are all fit now so he should be OK,” Marshall said.

“I did my ankle on a Thursday night before the game, so I was going to miss that game, but I thought it felt worse than that and it was,” he said.

“But I went straight into rehab and did everything I could to get back as fast as I could.”

Marshall has made a number of trips to Adelaide in the past month to see Adelaide 36ers Head of Medical Tristan Chai, and said the rehab process has limited his time on the sidelines.

“I’ve made a few trips and saw Tristan a lot, then went to do my own workouts and rehab to get the strength and balance back.”

Before the injury, Marshall had been averaging 24.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per night.

“It hasn’t been too long (on the sidelines), but it’s felt like so long without playing,” Marshall said.

“I’m pretty loud, the home games I am as always up and about, help the team as much as I could, the scout stuff or just talking trash.”

After winning their first six games of the season, Mount Gambier lost five on the trot as the injury curse hit the team, but Friday night’s match against Geelong will see the first Pioneers team at full strength this year.

“Hopefully we get a good run now going into finals and the hopefully we can finish top four and get a home final,” Marshall said.

“We got to go to Tasmania for a double header, then to Melbourne for a double header in the last round.”

Marshall said he’s excited to see what his side can produce in the run into the playoffs and is confident Mount Gambier will feature at the pointy end of the season.

“I’m just going to keep doing on what I do, now that we are back at full strength I don’t think there is going to be as heavy of a load on my shoulders,” he said.

“Hopefully I can be a bit more of a distributor and let guys do what they do and if we need me to go get a bucket, I’ll go get a bucket.”