The Case for darcy parish
Darcy Parish is reportedly negotiating a new contract with Essendon. The last time Parish signed his life away was halfway through his breakout year in 2021. At age 23, Parish was coming off best on ground performances in the ANZAC day, Dreamtime, and Country Game. His meteoric rise was a long time coming - a natural midfielder finally showing how good he can be when roaming through the middle. Every single Essendon fan delightfully mused at how good this kid will be in 3 years time as he enters the peak of his career. Yet, just 2 years on, fans are calling for ‘Rish’ (nope I hate that) *Parish* to be used as trade bait for players and picks, or even worse, to let Parish walk for a compensation pick.
Essendon apparently has a warchest, and I can think of few players who I would rather have locked up with a hefty front loaded contract. And whilst some fans agree, few in my opinion have convincingly spelt out the case for Darcy Parish. For me, it is simple, at nearly 26 years old, Parish is one the of the best players in the competition; he has a unique talent set for Essendon, bridges a gap in our age demographic, and is just getting started in his AFL career.
A Uniquely Talented Player
Parish brings something to the table that few Dons players can do - sheer accumulation. Whilst this may not seem like an overwhelming positive, it needs to be considered in light of the rest of the midfield group. Essendon has inside grunt in Setterfield and Caldwell, outside class in Shiel and Merrett, and goal kicking forwards in Stringer and Perkins. In order for Merrett and Shiel to damage the opposition with run and footskills, someone needs first hands to the pill to feed them on the outside. In order for Setterfield and Caldwell to be defensively minded and less concerned with winning the ball, someone needs to be very good at winning the ball for Essendon. The only person who can do this on our team is Parish, no one else is cleaner below their knees, and no one can accumulate like he does. I accept Merrett can get 35+ each week, but I would rather Parish shovel the ball out to Merrett for him to kick the ball more rather than Merrett having more inside touches.
Accumulating the football is often criticised when such possessions are not ‘damaging’. This criticism is not relevant to Parish because even though he handballs a lot so many of these handballs are effective clearances. In fact, Parish averages the most clearances in the competition in 2023. Few players in the competition have comparable accumulation skills, meaning Essendon already have our hands on a rarity of the game. Making this more valuable is that accumulation and clearance work are not easily teachable nor easily replaced, rather, just pure football nouse. Parish’s clearances are vital because each one is an opportunity for Merrett, Shiel, Perkins, and Stringer to have the ball in their hands. No one at Essendon can win the ball like he does, and whenever Parish is at the coalface, it is more likely our outside players will have the ball, and that is damaging.
The absence of accumulation, extraction, and clearance work was palpable in the June 4 game against North Melbourne. With Merrett tagged in the fourth quarter, the Kangaroos dominated clearances and nearly won the game with a midfield of children in George Wardlaw, Tarryn Thomas, and Will Phillips. It is disingenuous to say Parish’s accumulation and clearance work is not damaging when we nearly lost to a cellar dweller because our midfield could not win the footy from the middle.
In 2023, Parish has notably increased his kicking numbers, particularly at the centre bounce. Rather than feed the ball back from the contest, the midfield group is more interested in moving the ball sideways and forwards. With hands first to the footy often, Parish either flicks it to the outside or kicks inside fifty where he is comfortable on either foot (trivia: Parish plays golf left handed?). I would like to see these inside 50 kicks be a little deeper on entry to give our forwards and mids a better chance to set up behind the ball but hey, how many footballers are perfect at 26 years-old? But also, Parish has played less than 2 seasons as an AFL midfielder, decision making and execution will hopefully improve as he continues into his athletic prime.
The Age Factor
At nearly 26, Parish is at an important age where our likely grand final window will coincide with his athletic prime. Himself and Redman bridge a gap between the slightly younger McGrath, Ridley, Draper, Caldwell, and Martin and the slightly older Laverde, Merrett, Langford, Stringer, and Wright. Losing Parish and Redman reduces the consistency of ages and peak performances across the team. Athletic primes for AFL players varies, for midfielders, it is likely between 25ish and 30ish. (1) When Parish is in the middle of his prime in a couple of years, older players will also be peaking, and whilst he remains in this bracket for four or five years, older players will be on their way out as the younger generation are coming into it. If Parish goes, it is harder to fulfil the potential of these groups at once, risking losing a finals window. This age issue is compounded if Essendon choose to go to the draft. Losing a player entering their prime for a player 10 years from their best reduces the likelihood of success in the near future.
Above all these reasons, I want Parish to remain at Essendon simply because he is really good at football, like, really good. The 9th highest rated player per 100/min since 2021 with a stacked list of players above him. No football club should want to lose a player like that, and I do not know why fans would either. An Essendon Grand Final team ought to include Darcy Parish because if he is half as good as I think he is, why would you not want the man who consistently elevates his performance to extraordinary heights when the pressure is on?
