Former Richmond coach Terry Wallace has analysed the game of young Essendon midfielder Darcy Parish closely and is worried he’s not playing a style that best utilises his talents.
Parish gathered 14 disposals in the JLT Series against Carlton, only one of which was a kick.
Wallace believes he’s playing too much on the inside and needs to follow the lead of the likes of Andrew Gaff and Dayne Zorko.
“From a coaching point of view, I still watch players and look at them as a coach,” Wallace told SEN Afternoons.
“I watched (Parish) all through his under 18s, I think he’s got upside, but the way he’s playing at the moment, on the weekend he has zero kicks and 10 handpasses at one stage. I think he ended up finishing with one kick.
“He hasn’t got the body structure and size – he’s trying to be as honest as he can – I think his emphasis has flipped towards being inside and he’s not getting any outside spread.
“I had a look back at some of his numbers, particularly against the better sides last year, and it was still very skewed towards handball over kick.
“He’s got to become more of a spread player and more of an inside 50 player.
“The balance at the moment in his game is wrong.
“He’s got to look at vision of Andrew Gaff, of Dayne Zorko, of guys who are the same size. He’s not a bull, he’s not going to be able to get the ball in the pack, drag blokes in and distribute.
“He’s got to get the ball on the outside and add that to his game.”
Parish played 15 games for the Bombers last year, averaging 20 disposals per game – 8.8 kicks and 11.9 handballs.
