AFL Player # 3: Darcy Parish

[Beerfish]

Contract Status: Unrestricted free agent 2028 or 2029
My Boy Draft 2024: Pick 18, doug85

 

[Beerfish]

He'd be nuts not to go to Geelong if there was an offer.

 

[Corleone]

He'd be nuts not to go to Geelong if there was an offer.

My gut feel is that Geelong will be where he finds himself next year.

I'm not going to pretend it won't be a loss, but if he leaves ... he leaves

 

[eth-dog]

I’m keen for the explanation of this eth-dog

Disposal Efficiency only somewhat measures how well you use the ball. For example, if you kick to a 2 on 1 45 metres away and the ball goes out for a throw in it's still counted as an "efficient" disposal. So a guy that has 10 kicks, all long down the line and only 1 is a direct turnover that guy is going at 90% DE, despite him basically playing a safe option. Garbage statistic.

 

[citizen-erased]

Does anyone watch what happens when the ball leaves his hands? That is the hogwash.

We just keep going around in circles.

Bruno: the value for a Parish possession is rubbish.

BF: Parish gets lots of the ball.

Bruno: what does he do with it?

BF: he gets lots.

Bruno: you know that is a function of his role yeah?

BF: and he gets lots of it.

if i can
When he gets it out of the middle, the opposition don't. Has been working when we had some competitiveness forward to bring the ball to ground.

Stringer + Weid did not help this cause.
Parish and McGrath are of a similar ilk. very good at getting the ball in congestion and hacking it out. the hacking is a bit of an issue as it rarely falls our way. Something to work on.

Parish likes surfing. Swapsies with GCS for King is about all i'd do at this point
Outside that, our run with developing top 10 picks doesn't strike confidence that we trade the only one in the last 15 years that's come good.

 

[Chief Hopper]

If he does go to Geelong, they won't be wanting to give Essendon much of anything in a trade.
Geelong are teetering on a rebuild themselves.

 

[eth-dog]

If he does go to Geelong, they won't be wanting to give Essendon much of anything in a trade.
Geelong are teetering on a rebuild themselves.

Which is why they'd be open to putting in a band 1 offer.

 

[citizen-erased]

Which is why they'd be open to putting in a band 1 offer.

that was more attractive when it looked like we weren't going to be competitive.
I didn't mind the idea of 2x top 5 picks (ours and FA comp)

Later it slides, less it feels like a good thing overall for the team

 

[Nifft]

He'd be nuts not to go to Geelong if there was an offer.

Especially considering they'd be getting our first round pick as well.

 

[jmoo wan]

He'd be nuts not to go to Geelong if there was an offer.

mate - no chance he's going to Geelong, the "pull of home" only applies when the home team is winning

 

[Beerfish]

mate - no chance he's going to Geelong, the "pull of home" only applies when the home team is winning

View attachment 1649987

Early days. It's a marathon not a sprint.

It's not an egg and spoon race either despite us trying to make it look like one at times.

 

[jmoo wan]

Early days. It's a marathon not a sprint.

It's not an egg and spoon race either despite us trying to make it look like one at times.

maybe, but I don't trust people that mix their metaphors like you've done there

 

[bombreys]

that was more attractive when it looked like we weren't going to be competitive.
I didn't mind the idea of 2x top 5 picks (ours and FA comp)

Later it slides, less it feels like a good thing overall for the team

Still should be top 5 - the only team we’re absolutely better than is Hawthorn

 

[Beerfish]

maybe, but I don't trust people that mix their metaphors like you've done there

That's fair.

 

[Vander18]

I think Parish has some value as a player….but having been saying for years now we need to rebalance our midfield core of him, Merrett and Shiel. It’s been clear for some time that one has to go.

Adding a top ten pick to the top five pick we’ll likely get…sold.

 

[ghostdog]

if i can
When he gets it out of the middle, the opposition don't. Has been working when we had some competitiveness forward to bring the ball to ground.

Stringer + Weid did not help this cause.
Parish and McGrath are of a similar ilk. very good at getting the ball in congestion and hacking it out. the hacking is a bit of an issue as it rarely falls our way. Something to work on.

Parish likes surfing. Swapsies with GCS for King is about all i'd do at this point
Outside that, our run with developing top 10 picks doesn't strike confidence that we trade the only one in the last 15 years that's come good.

King would have to be super keen. I can't see it, as much as I'd like to. Rowell, Anderson, Miller, Swallow. Not sure they need Parish.

 

[DERO]

I think Parish has some value as a player….but having been saying for years now we need to rebalance our midfield core of him, Merrett and Shiel. It’s been clear for some time that one has to go.

Adding a top ten pick to the top five pick we’ll likely get…sold.

This is the bit that I struggle with. Yeah we will get a reasonable pick because we are trading a good player but if you have a look at our last bunch of top 10 picks from the draft we have picked up Parish, Francis, McGrath, Tsatas, Cox, Reid, Perkins. I know the jury is out on a couple of them because they deserve more time but really the only player in this bunch you'd be happy with taking in exchange for Parish would be Parish!

 

[Vander18]

This is the bit that I struggle with. Yeah we will get a reasonable pick because we are trading a good player but if you have a look at our last bunch of top 10 picks from the draft we have picked up Parish, Francis, McGrath, Tsatas, Cox, Reid, Perkins. I know the jury is out on a couple of them because they deserve more time but really the only player in this bunch you'd be happy with taking in exchange for Parish would be Parish!

You’re right……I guess my position assumes an ability to nail top ten picks. That’s a dangerous assumption!

 

[frodos gardener]

Horsesh*t.
Penny dropped for Jobe at the end of 2005. Runner up in the B&F in 2006 on about 60-70% game time due to Sheed's issues with Jobes dad.
Still wasn't a great kick but his inside work in 06 was if not elite, then very close.

Going to have to disagree with this. "Penny dropped" is a broad statement so it's tricky to try to address everything it might capture, but I'll bring up the one thing that comes to mind; Jobe was very reluctant to kick the footy for a good 4-5 years after he joined the system, and when he did, it was often a shank. I'll agree he turned a corner and became "good" that year but not beyond that. It wasn't until the end of the decade he started to become great and really impact the outcome of games. 2011 was when his kicks to handballs hit about 50/50. You might think that's not important but consider it from the perspective of metres gained.

Jobe's body didn't really hit full development, either, until around 2009-ish. I don't think pointing to 2006 as runner up in the Best and Fairest is a strong argument given how poor we were that year. Lloyd was out and Hird played just over half a season.

 

[doug85]

I reckon Jobe often tried to bite off too much with his kicks.

 

[NAB777]

Going to have to disagree with this. "Penny dropped" is a broad statement so it's tricky to try to address everything it might capture, but I'll bring up the one thing that comes to mind; Jobe was very reluctant to kick the footy for a good 4-5 years after he joined the system, and when he did, it was often a shank. I'll agree he turned a corner and became "good" that year but not beyond that. It wasn't until the end of the decade he started to become great and really impact the outcome of games. 2011 was when his kicks to handballs hit about 50/50. You might think that's not important but consider it from the perspective of metres gained.

Jobe's body didn't really hit full development, either, until around 2009-ish. I don't think pointing to 2006 as runner up in the Best and Fairest is a strong argument given how poor we were that year. Lloyd was out and Hird played just over half a season.

Well...I think we can safely say that it didn't take him until he was 28 to be a good player

 

[Nifft]

'It's a big decision': Parish on free agency, Brad's 'fizz' and Bombers journey

Cal Twomey chats with Essendon's Darcy Parish to talk about his footy future, farm life, and the Bombers' direction under Brad Scott

www.afl.com.au

"We were fairly confused last year and we were taking it out on one another at times which wasn't great and it wasn't fun and enjoyable to come into the club."

"We'd come in after bad losses just searching and searching for answers and we'd have these meetings and there wasn't really anything resolved out of them."

"I just want that real consistency, the ability to compete and be in games for longer. I feel like we've got a real trust in the group that we're in any game this year and I want us to compete and keep improving."


Also says he'll be waiting till later in the year to make a decision on his contract.

 

[Lore]

'It's a big decision': Parish on free agency, Brad's 'fizz' and Bombers journey

Cal Twomey chats with Essendon's Darcy Parish to talk about his footy future, farm life, and the Bombers' direction under Brad Scott

www.afl.com.au

"We were fairly confused last year and we were taking it out on one another at times which wasn't great and it wasn't fun and enjoyable to come into the club."

"We'd come in after bad losses just searching and searching for answers and we'd have these meetings and there wasn't really anything resolved out of them."

"I just want that real consistency, the ability to compete and be in games for longer. I feel like we've got a real trust in the group that we're in any game this year and I want us to compete and keep improving."


Also says he'll be waiting till later in the year to make a decision on his contract.

That’s actually a really good interview. I don’t think he wants to leave at all based on reading the whole thing, but he does want to let his footy do the talking and seems to want to leverage it a bit with the club to get it moving towards team success, but ultimately expects the contract situation to take care of itself.

The review of the coaching through his career is particularly telling, but he seems to like Brad Scott. In particular there’s a line where he says “He told me I could be one of the top-five mids in the comp and to keep striving and setting the example at training and that's doing my job for the team. He's had our full respect and trust. He fizzes us up before games which is great.” Doesn’t sound like previous coaches did much fizzing up?

There’s a few questions near the end about being a country kid and what his life is like now, favourite restaurant and what he and his wife get up to on recovery day. They seem to like the big smoke and he hasn’t sheared a sheep since probably that draft video on the farm years ago If Geelong are using that as a pull I don’t think it’s a strong one.

Also definitely hears noise from outside… although it’s not super important (he prioritises his partner, his relationships at the club, focuses on what he needs to do for his footy) he does acknowledge that he can play exactly the same way from 2021 to 2022 and the response is completely different… accolades one year and getting smacked around the next. And it’s irritating on some level. Seems directly proportionate to the number of games the club wins too.

 

[Lore]

I guess if the joint completely imploded again he might get out while he can, but I think in the background he’s also one of the reasons last year ended as it did… If not directly then I think the prospect of losing him and him being unhappy would be influential, especially if other important players felt the same.

And for that reason we’re likely to at least set ourselves up to finish this year well with regard to the support and clear air that senior mgmt gives to the football program…


Basically I guess if we’re at a point where he wants to leave at the end of 2023 then the club is going nowhere fast and is no better internally than it was at the end of 2020 or 2022. He’s the canary in the coalmine.

 

[ghostdog]

That’s actually a really good interview. I don’t think he wants to leave at all based on reading the whole thing, but he does want to let his footy do the talking and seems to want to leverage it a bit with the club to get it moving towards team success, but ultimately expects the contract situation to take care of itself.

The review of the coaching through his career is particularly telling, but he seems to like Brad Scott. In particular there’s a line where he says “He told me I could be one of the top-five mids in the comp and to keep striving and setting the example at training and that's doing my job for the team. He's had our full respect and trust. He fizzes us up before games which is great.” Doesn’t sound like previous coaches did much fizzing up?

There’s a few questions near the end about being a country kid and what his life is like now, favourite restaurant and what he and his wife get up to on recovery day. They seem to like the big smoke and he hasn’t sheared a sheep since probably that draft video on the farm years ago If Geelong are using that as a pull I don’t think it’s a strong one.

Also definitely hears noise from outside… although it’s not super important (he prioritises his partner, his relationships at the club, focuses on what he needs to do for his footy) he does acknowledge that he can play exactly the same way from 2021 to 2022 and the response is completely different… accolades one year and getting smacked around the next. And it’s irritating on some level. Seems directly proportionate to the number of games the club wins too.

The fizzing up is interesting. I pointed this out here once before, a couple of years ago maybe; there was video circulating of Geelong's senior players about to run out before a final, reminding each other of their focuses as a team - 'fizzing' each other up I guess. Zach Tuohy yelling out "be first to the ball" and stuff like that. I was super impressed by how focused they were. If that's the direction Brad's fizzing is moving towards, bloody fizz on, Brad!

 

[ghostdog]

I guess if the joint completely imploded again he might get out while he can, but I think in the background he’s also one of the reasons last year ended as it did… If not directly then I think the prospect of losing him and him being unhappy would be influential, especially if other important players felt the same.

And for that reason we’re likely to at least set ourselves up to finish this year well with regard to the support and clear air that senior mgmt gives to the football program…


Basically I guess if we’re at a point where he wants to leave at the end of 2023 then the club is going nowhere fast and is no better internally than it was at the end of 2020 or 2022. He’s the canary in the coalmine.

By the same token, he does recognise he has a role to play and that he needed "to go to work" on his defensive game, so I'm happy that he has tried to improve that. It's acknowledgment that he did understand at least something that Truck had to say - perhaps what needed to improve but not how.