#3 Darcy "Darcy Parish" Parish - Shiel can play forward pocket instead

Wasn’t a game to write home about.
But he will be better for the run.

The thing that I found interesting was how often he was found on the outside of the pack waiting watching.

I saw this numerous times. Has his role slightly changed or is this a team thing?

Whether blocking the exit, guarding the space to stop the opposition if they won the ball or creating a pathway for an attack - perhaps all of this.

I doubt this was specific to Parish, but he is normally a guy that cracks in and tries to win the ball.

I saw Shiel & Merrett, Myers, Hepp and plenty of times Stringer doing this.

Often though only of our two players would engage in this pack thus creating more opportunities to exit the ball into space

Is it me or did others think that Parish was less involved in the contested stuff on Friday?
He only had 7 contested touches and 9 uncontested.

Side point - Another interesting thing I saw was the use of little interferring touches to stop the balls path when they tried to move the ball. This was extremely effective.

Whilst I have seen this before, I don’t think I’ve see it being used as intently or effectively.
It worked extremely well to disrupt there ball movement and move the ball into a chaotic situation. Love this.

Anyway, probably needs another game: still a bit rusty. In a way with Shiel, Myers, Heppell & Merrett and Stringer all winning there own ball perhaps he isn’t required to win as much ball on the inside.

I hope his kicking is sharper this week.

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One was a genuine poor kick, the other was actually a stub, obviously a poor kick also, but happens to the best players. It wasn’t a poor decision or evidence of a skill deficiency, just a mistake which every player has made and will make. One moment we want our young players to have consistent time, the next we want them out for a perceived poor game which wasn’t actually poor. Ham stays in and Parish goes out? Madness. Both gems though.

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The thing that bugged me was that it was 3 mistakes in a row. He dropped a simple mark, then followed it up with two dreadful kicking errors in his two subsequent involvements in the play. And they got progressively worse in consequence for our play. It was good that he recovered his composure after that.

He was always a good onballer biggest asset his contest work and ability to rack them up. Was always seen to be good at everything but not elite at anything.

He already is a good player, but will never be a superstar. He did have an pretty ordinary night kicking wise but I wouldn’t be dropping him just yet

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I first noticed this with Richmond when they played us in 2017 and I have seen it every time I watch them play since. It is extremely effective in causing turnovers and a significant part of Richmond’s ability to pressure opposition when they have the ball.

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It’s almost like the coaches are teaching him about roles to play within the side so that he is a more rounded footballer, just as they have with Zerrett and Heppell, Zaka and others.

Good post.

This is probably the best sign yet that the side is maturing.

The really good sides commit only enough bodies inside as required and team mates back them to win the footy and proactively make position a second earlier. Geelong have done this for years, they back Selwood and Co to win the 1 on 1 or even 1-on-2 whilst the opposition send more numbers to the contest and leave Cats players free on the overlap.

The important thing is probably to be ahead of the play but not necessarily ahead of the ball. You can’t afford to be out of position defensively in case you don’t win the original contest.

If Darce is backing Shiel/Merrett etc on the inside, is used as the rapid distributor by those lads and is blocking the defensive path as well, then we have a pretty good balance around the packs.

Offtopic re Parish, but the few times I thought we left ourselves exposed were on the North kick ins. Several occasions, they found a long option straight down the middle and got in behind us. Need to tidy that up a little.

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Lots of excuses afforded Parish by Blitzers. If he’s had a bad game it’s because coaches are clueless and not letting him play on ball, apparently.

He hasn’t come on as much as many here believe or hoped… and he could easily see himself out of the side because his average game, without having exceptional size, skill or pace, is below that of others. Being able to handball accurately over 5 to 10m is not enough to hang your hat on at afl level. Would love him to come on, but he needs to find more skill, speed, bulk or mongrel soon

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Is 21. Had a great second half of last year. Has not been at all bad. Cripes.

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Spin it any way you like but a top 5 drafted mid who, with barely any injury history, is still struggling to hold his spot in his 4th season is disappointing.

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I’m not ‘spinning’ anything. I’m not disappointed by what Darcy Parish has shown so far but I also recognise that my joy or disappointment matters for shizen. Some here seem to think their own version of events is absolute. If I’m spinning one way, you’re spinning the other.

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Because I’m watching the replay anyway, centre bounce attendances:
Bellchambers x 25
Daniher x 3

Merrett x 19
Shiel x 17
Myers x 13
Heppell x 10
Stringer x 7
Tippa x 7
McGrath x 6
Parish x 4
Fantasia x 1

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Thanks splitround, you’re my favourite gadget type operator on this forum.

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Oh well then, while I’m at it, starting on the wings:
McKenna x 17
Not Visible* x 10
Ham x 11
McGrath x 5
Guelfi x 4
Heppell x 3
Parish x 3
Shiel x 1
Fantasia x 1
Saad x 1

*Because we set someone up on the back corner of the square, they weren’t normally visible when we were kicking to the right of screen. Judging from who was positioned there when we were kicking the other way, I’d guess these are almost all McKenna

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Great work.

That’s really poor given up till that game I think Parish averaged the highest centre clearances for us per game.

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You have to rotate 30 plus players to be any chance at the business end of the season. Our game is all about hi intensity run share bounce swamp the opponents with options and numbers. Rest, injuries, game days break, work load management is a very big deal. We are finally developing a truly interchangeable mid field with 7/8/9 players available to play there. When push comes to shove it’s vital to have your elites fresh and motoring. Someone is going to be unhappy!!

Yep. Rutten’s influence

We won’t know until the team is named, and how they play on Thursday.

We effectively rested Smith. And arguably were conservative with Zaharakis. Perhaps we determined that Parish would have an outside week this week.

Of course, if they drop him off of that performance, then the above thought has no merit.

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Good point. But really he should be having as much centre stoppage opportunities as Heppell and Myers. Which would make him top 3-5 after the 2 guns.

McKenna was on the wing almost 27 times, and the other wingman was there only at least 29 times?

That sounds like a permanent wingman.

(Not sure if you did the maths and agree with that conclusion. I don’t think he was permanently there. And screw you @barnz – even if I agree with you.)