Not to mention the contested marks he takes.I was tempted to start a new thread in praise of Parker, but I'll stick in here instead. At the start of the year, I reckoned we needed at least one more mid to step up to the Hanners-JPK-Jack-McVeigh level to ease the workload off that group towards the end of the year. Parker has played some mighty fine footy since almost his first game, but you still sensed he was a notch down. He's now well on his way to joining that group. He probably won't make AA this season - its a tough gig to crack, especially if you're not a glamour name in the competition, but as an ultra-consistent, goal kicking midfielder he's certainly putting his case forward.
The moment I was prepared to mentally don the gold jacket last night was when two Hawks players were converging on a loose ball just outside their forward 50. A clean take-away would likely have created them a scoring shot to keep the pressure on Sydney. In comes Parker. He doesn't make the mistake of anticipating a Hawk gaining possession to give away a free. Instead he makes the ball his only focus. He doesn't get possession himself, but propels the ball away from the central corridor towards an area where the Swans had more numbers to create an even contest.
Seems to bob up unexpectedly, or takes the tough marks that most would drop.
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