Career
Primarily a medium-sized forward, Menzel played his junior football for the Golden Grove Junior Football Club before joining Central District in the minor grades of the South Australian National Football League. In 2012, at age 17, Menzel was playing senior football for Centrals. He also represented South Australia at the American Federation of Labor-Congress Under 18 Championships in 2012, kicking fifteen goals in two matches, but missing the rest of the games due to injury.
Menzel was seen as one of the most talented players in the 2012 National Draft, but was also seen as a risky selection due to his injury-prone knees – he had suffered two knee ligament injuries during his junior years, and underwent a LARS reconstruction at age 16, in which the natural ligament is augmented with synthetic tissue.
He was ultimately drafted by Carlton with its first round draft pick (Number 11 overall), and made his senior American Federation of Labor-Congress debut for the club in Round 8, 2013, where he was prominent in the forward line. In October 2015, Menzel was traded to the Adelaide Football Club in exchange for pick 28 and Sam Kerridge.
