AFL Player # 3: Darcy Parish

[Beerfish]

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

 

[Lore]

The secret superstar-stopper: Irish Hawk's stunning breakout burst

Conor Nash has enjoyed a meteoric rise under Sam Mitchell, forcing opponents to take notice

www.afl.com.au

One of those fancy stats you can't get anywhere ^

 

[Jobe Watson]

If you are like me and see us as maybe around the bottom end of the 8 for the next 2 years but maybe 4 to 5 years from pushing into the top 4 as a serious side then you are looking at your options and what you may gain longer term when you are in the window.

Us still being 4-5 years away from being a serious side, with the list we currently have, would be completely unacceptable. We have Merrett, Parish, Ridley, Wright, Langford, McGrath, Redman and Stringer in their primes, with guys like Caldwell, Setterfield, Durham, BZT, Martin, Perkins, Draper and Jones on the verge of entering their prime years, and lots of promising young talent beneath them. If we aren't aiming to challenge for top 4 by 2025 then you may as well trade half the list. Obviously pushing up the ladder is easier said than done, and we've had false dawns before.

I think letting Parish go would be dumb. We need to keep adding to the list we have right now, not shipping off our best players. We aren't at the beginning of a rebuild.

 

[citizen-erased]

My view is simple. Have said it a few times but maybe it gets lost in the wash.
Looking at list profile.
If you think we will be in the top 4 window shorter term (2 to 3 seasons) and being a solid top 4 team by say 2026 then you do not trade him. You make sure you equip the midfield with some solid blokes who can maximize what he does.
If you are like me and see us as maybe around the bottom end of the 8 for the next 2 years but maybe 4 to 5 years from pushing into the top 4 as a serious side then you are looking at your options and what you may gain longer term when you are in the window. He is a seriously good player so what could you get for him that will help you in 4 to 5 years time.
I understand those who just can not swallow trading one of our best players in his prime. My view is simply based on what I have learnt in list management. You never say never and you have to have a real view of the list. Not saying I will be 100% right. It could turn quicker.
It comes down to Parish anyway. If he wants to stay then I am not pushing him out the door. If the club thinks he can be a major player in our premiership window I have no issue with them paying him a decent wage to keep him.
Personally I do not think he is super star level. He is the next level down. He will help you win games but he will not drag you over the line in a way that Dangerfield or Martin or Fyfe could do in their prime. If you give him the right midfield mix he will work within it to be one of your best players most weeks.
I will add that the only reason I look at him as a potential trade is he gets the best value and short term we can cover close to what he does with Shiel and Hobbs. Shiel does not have the trade value. I will conced that if someone came knocking for Shiel then that changes things. You would almost take an early third round to clear the cap space. I just do not think anyone is really looking at Dylan unless he wants out.

I dont know why but im a little more bullish on us

Probably splitting the difference and thinking in 2-3 we could be a solid top 4 side

It'll take some luck with reid and cox
And i reckon we'll need a couple of gun recruits
Finn callaghan comes out of contract at just the right moment

 

[fairbump_playon]

I dont know why but im a little more bullish on us

Probably splitting the difference and thinking in 2-3 we could be a solid top 4 side

It'll take some luck with reid and cox
And i reckon we'll need a couple of gun recruits
Finn callaghan comes out of contract at just the right moment

Yep sooner or later you have to rise suddenly up the ladder.

Most teams don't just end up in the top 4 by steadily going up one place on the ladder every year for 5 years.

 

[andleanback]

Yep sooner or later you have to rise suddenly up the ladder.

Most teams don't just end up in the top 4 by steadily going up one place on the ladder every year for 5 years.

It’s going to come together for Brad Scott or it’s not. I still expect us to finish bottom 8 this year, but after another pre season of training under him and the coaching group, another year of development into the list, anything is possible from next season onwards. Could easily see us finishing top 5-6 next year if the plan keeps on heading in the right direction and we don’t get hit with another year of key injuries. It’s more common of teams to jump into the 4 from outside the top 8 than it is from teams who have been making up the numbers in the lower part of the 8.

 

[Megabattimus]

Parish is staying. We're definitely at least winning a final this year.

 

[eth-dog]

Parish is staying. We're definitely at least winning a final this year.

Jesus, we're unlikely to even make finals, let alone win one.

 

[citizen-erased]

Jesus, we're unlikely to even make finals, let alone win one.

Season is open enough and we've given ourselves a good chance to be there
12 more winnable games this year after this fortnight...and port is a 40/60 prospect.

This essendon just needs to keep turning up.

Ergh, i am unrecognisable from before Rd1. This optimism feels weird

 

[Lore]

I think we’ll do a 2021 and Parish will do a Merrett.

The proof of the pudding will be in the eating in 2024.

 

[Zach Package]

View attachment 1676588

The secret superstar-stopper: Irish Hawk's stunning breakout burst

Conor Nash has enjoyed a meteoric rise under Sam Mitchell, forcing opponents to take notice

www.afl.com.au

One of those fancy stats you can't get anywhere ^

They clearly have all this stuff, I’d like to see what the standard deviation is from the average midfielder.

We know he’s right at the tippy top in terms of winning the ball at the coalface so this doesn’t necessarily tell us anything new.

 

[Gabe251]

Parish is staying. We're definitely at least winning a final this year

Damn, dude lol

 

[doug85]

Season is open enough and we've given ourselves a good chance to be there
12 more winnable games this year after this fortnight...and port is a 40/60 prospect.

This essendon just needs to keep turning up.

Ergh, i am unrecognisable from before Rd1. This optimism feels weird

I’ve looked at the draw and I can see us finishing in the lower parts of the 8. It means **** all though unless we can actually win a final or 2. Hopefully the list is healthy at the pointy end.

 

[citizen-erased]

I’ve looked at the draw and I can see us finishing in the lower parts of the 8. It means * all though unless we can actually win a final or 2. Hopefully the list is healthy at the pointy end.

Focus is finals wins but i think there's a priority ahead of that and its consistency across seasons

Twitter clock can mock all it likes but a finals win means nothing if we miss the following year

Tigers built a dynasty off breaking a finals win drought then winning a flag the same series.
Do need to do that. But if we win a final, id hope we're challenging hard in the next game and backing it up the season(s) after that.

 

[faible]

Trade him to Tassie for a kings ransom as their foundational star.

 

[Lore]

Trade him to Tassie for a kings ransom as their foundational star.

Tasmania will need advanced cryogenics in order for him to be a foundational star when they finally join the competition in 2028

Well unless he's one of those freaks that wins brownlows at 31

 

[ant555]

Jesus, we're unlikely to even make finals, let alone win one.

Hope you are wrong. My bank balance will be a lot better if we do But yes it will be a battle to get in. With the extra game you will most likely need 13 wins to get in.

 

[bombreys]

Us still being 4-5 years away from being a serious side, with the list we currently have, would be completely unacceptable. We have Merrett, Parish, Ridley, Wright, Langford, McGrath, Redman and Stringer in their primes, with guys like Caldwell, Setterfield, Durham, BZT, Martin, Perkins, Draper and Jones on the verge of entering their prime years, and lots of promising young talent beneath them. If we aren't aiming to challenge for top 4 by 2025 then you may as well trade half the list. Obviously pushing up the ladder is easier said than done, and we've had false dawns before.

I think letting Parish go would be dumb. We need to keep adding to the list we have right now, not shipping off our best players. We aren't at the beginning of a rebuild.

Top 4 in two years? Think that’s a big ask. Our list is only around average at the moment, with a lot of holes. We have a long way to go. Our spine especially is pretty ordinary.

 

[bombadeer]

Doesn’t really belong in the Parish thread, but context is everything.

Projections of Bombers top 4 within x years is obviously based on hope - not knocking that, but let’s not pretend it’s based on anything else at this point.

Hope is the supporters lifeblood.

In the cold light of day, bottom 4 is just as likely.

 

[Jobe Watson]

Top 4 in two years? Think that’s a big ask. Our list is only around average at the moment, with a lot of holes. We have a long way to go. Our spine especially is pretty ordinary.

Merrett will be 28 by the end of the year, Wright 27, Stringer 29 - we can't afford to spend another 4 years outside the top 8 not making progress. A lot will depend on how Reid and Cox develop over the next 2 years.

 

[Cup_o_Jobe]

Parish is pound for pound the best extractor in the league (and with this claim I'm proving his diminutive stature is at least good for something).

Still a lot of gaps in his defensive efforts, and his lack of intent in the footage of the Jezza fend-off is wince-inducing, but the best player in the league will make a lot of otherwise good players look silly this year, and on the whole Parish seems to be at least making an effort to buy in to the defensive team structure, which is promising to see.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Top 4 in two years? Think that’s a big ask. Our list is only around average at the moment, with a lot of holes. We have a long way to go. Our spine especially is pretty ordinary.

The hope suddenly feels less like blind hope and more hope that Wright, Reid, Cox, Tsatas and the Daveys all get on the park and fire

If that happens we are a top 4 side in another year.

 

[bombreys]

The hope suddenly feels less like blind hope and more hope that Wright, Reid, Cox, Tsatas and the Daveys all get on the park and fire

If that happens we are a top 4 side in another year.

I respect the positivity, I just don't think we're that close. That's a lot of hope to put on five guys (outside Wright) that have played a total of 33 AFL games between them. I definitely don't think we're top 4 next year, there are far more than 4 better sides than us. Top 8 would be amazing.

 

[ant555]

The hope suddenly feels less like blind hope and more hope that Wright, Reid, Cox, Tsatas and the Daveys all get on the park and fire

If that happens we are a top 4 side in another year.

Still need to see more leadership, personal wise and also the buy in when Scott has to introduce a bit more defense. Right now we are playing 90% of the offensive game plan we played in 2021 and a basic defensive plan. Our downfall under all coaches has been trying to introduce the next defensive step.
I like what Scott has done. It is a good basic plan but it will need a stage two.
We will also need the leadership to drive it and I am not buying we have the troops to cover it right now.

 

[Dudoro]

Can’t remember a Restricted Free Agent putting contract talks on hold till end of year and staying. (Apart from De Goey but that was bc of clauses in contract he never wanted to leave). Just got married reckon he’ll set up his life near Geelong.

 

[Lore]

Can’t remember a Restricted Free Agent putting contract talks on hold till end of year and staying. (Apart from De Goey but that was bc of clauses in contract he never wanted to leave). Just got married reckon he’ll set up his life near Geelong.

Merrett 2021

Also no one said end of the year. They've just said "let the footy do the talking". Will be concerned if we get to July and they aren't even at the table to negotiate.