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PORT Adelaide hopes to have recruited the next Justin Westhoff after landing exciting marking forward Todd Marshall with its first pick in the 2016 NAB AFL Draft.

The Power snapped up Marshall, a 198cm tall forward from Murray Bushrangers, with selection No.16 overall.

The raw but talented youngster, who was ruled ineligible from Greater Western Sydney's academy by the AFL this year, played representative cricket for Australian underage teams and only switched his focus to football this season.

"We think he's an exciting prospect. He started the year off really well in the first four or five weeks," list manager Jason Cripps told AFL.com.au.

"He obviously finished the year – he dropped away a bit – he's never done a pre-season, he just turned 18, so we think in a full-time program he's got some real upside.

"He's got some physical weapons with his speed and agility, his ability win the ball on the ground and in the air; he's just got to put it together at more of a consistent level.

"He's more of a (Justin) Westhoff type, he's a Darcy Moore type of build, rather than your big power key forward.

"Obviously it's a bit of a need for us on our list with (Jay) Schulz and (John) Butcher going, Dougal Howard has done his knee.

"We didn't compromise the order on talent, it just fell that way, but it just happened to be that it filled a pretty good need for us as well."

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After landing Marshall, Port then stuck true to its plan to recruit midfielders, taking tough onballer Sam Powell-Pepper from East Perth two picks later.

"We just love his speed, power, endurance, he's just got a really good athletic mix," Cripps said

"He's an outstanding character, he's a really good fit, mature body, he's really durable and we think he can have an impact for us short-term, which is good."

In-and-under onballer Joe Atley, the brother of North Melbourne's running half-back Shaun, and rangy midfielder Willem Drew then made their way to Port with back-to-back selections 32 and 33.

"In terms of our objective and strategy ... we achieved that. We just hope the boys turn out how we know they can," Cripps said.

Selection No.16 – Todd Marshall
Jason Cripps says: "I think he's going to take two or three pre-seasons. He's never done a pre-season, he's played cricket in summer and then just turned up for footy."

Selection No.18 – Sam Powell-Pepper
Jason Cripps says: "We place a bit more of an emphasis on guys giving 100 per cent effort, 100 per cent of the time. When you've got a little bit of a combative nature, it's an important part of the game, probably the most important part of the game, the ability to win your own footy."

Selection No.32 – Joe Atley
Jason Cripps says: "He's got really good hands in close, he's clean, he's got good awareness, he's got a little bit of speed."

Selection No.33 – Willem Drew
Jason Cripps says: "Drew's high in contested ball, high in tackles, and he just gets the job done. He's very smart, his running patterns are at a high level."