Brad Crouch and Rowan Marshall couldn’t have arrived into the AFL system much differently.

Crouch was plucked by Adelaide as a 17-year-old as part of a one-off 2011 mini-draft, while Marshall had to wait a little longer for his turn, joining St Kilda as a 19-year-old rookie after missing out on selection in his draft year.

Despite their contrasting beginnings, the two have shared some overlap, notably through their histories in and around Ballarat; Crouch hailing from Beaufort and Marshall spending time playing for Sebastopol and North Ballarat to keep his AFL dream alive.

“It definitely gave me the hunger to get on an AFL list (getting picked up later),” Marshall said the week of his 100th senior game.

“I was at uni, slaving away there and studying hard and things like that, and you’d rock up to some cold VFL training nights in Ballarat…. but it almost made you hungrier and more motivation to eventually make it. I guess here we are, six years later.”

“It’s been a long period of ups and downs and footy’s a bit of a journey,” Crouch added.

“So it’s good to finally get there and exciting to play in such a big game for the footy club in Spud’s Game as well.”

Frawley’s legacy as a fierce advocate for destigmatising mental ill-health has been embodied best through the Danny Frawley Centre at Moorabbin, which has been utilised by both the club and wider community following the completion of Stage 2 construction last month.

The previous two Spud’s Games have raised over $1 million for the DFC, with funds helping raise money for mental health initiatives from from the centre in Frawley’s name.

“Having the Danny Frawley Centre’s been pretty amazing for us and the playing group and we know the legacy that Spud has here at the football club,” Marshall said.

“It’s been great for the community, the Danny Frawley Centre. There’s been so many people who have signed up and there’s a real sense of belonging down here now. 

Marshall, Crouch and the Saints will be looking to do Spud and club proud this Friday night in the hopes of banking their ninth win of the season and keeping a foothold inside the top-eight.

While St Kilda’s alternating win-loss table dating all the way back to Round 4 has been a topic of discussion this week, Crouch is confident in the direction the group is heading with 10 games left to play of the home-and-away season.

“Internally at the moment we’re feeling really good, really up and about and upbeat about where we can go,” Crouch said.

“You’ve just got to look across the competition to know how even it is and how up-and-down performances can be at the moment.

“We feel that over the first 13 games, our effort’s been there for probably 11 or 12 where we’ve been up in close games, so we’re feeling most weeks we’re going out there and competing well.

“We just want to make sure we can do that for the rest of the year, touch up a few things with our gameplan and the way we’re moving the ball, but the main thing is our effort.”