Essendon star’s deal reportedly longer than believed

The length of Essendon midfielder Darcy Parish’s contract is reportedly understood to be longer than what might’ve been advertised by the club when his long-term extension at Tullamarine was announced.

Parish recommitted to the Bombers in August, turning his back on free agency in favour of a deal that will see his tenure in the red and black extended for the next five seasons.

The club’s announcement stated that Parish “will don the sash until at least 2028”, with no word on the exact length of the freshly signed contract extension currently written in the announcement.

Parish’s decision came after a reported impasse in negotiations between the All-Australian and the club, with the 26-year-old’s management said to be seeking a deal of six years instead of the five offered by the club.

According to SEN, Parish’s contract with Essendon is said to be six years long, which would take him to the end of 2029 instead of 2028.

The unspecific terminology used in the announcement of Parish’s new deal is sure to raise eyebrows among Essendon members seeking transparent updates from the club.

The deal was a major retention for the Dons in what was a significant season of re-signings at The Hangar, with Parish joined by fellow free agent Mason Redman in inking a long-term deal and knocking back external interest.

Key forward and best and fairest winner Peter Wright also re-signed with the club early into the year, while wingman Nic Martin penned a new deal until 2027 this week.

The Bombers added a quartet of names to their list over the recent player movement period, with Ben McKay and Todd Goldstein joining from North Melbourne, while Jade Gresham and Xavier Duursma also made the move to Essendon from St Kilda and Port Adelaide respectively.

Parish has played 150 games in the red sash since joining the club as a top five draft selection eight years ago, winning an All-Australian selection and Anzac Day Medal in a breakout 2021 campaign.

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Essendon were never content with making up the numbers and simply competing as an AFLW expansion club.

Even an admirable 10th-placed finish with four wins in their debut season – clearly the best of the AFLW’s four new teams – was not enough to satisfy.

Rather than rest on their laurels after an encouraging first campaign, Essendon went to work over last summer to discover ways to bridge the gap with the best.

Twelve months on, the Bombers find themselves in an elimination final showdown against Geelong on Sunday after going 6-4.

“We reflected a fair bit after last season, we were disappointed probably not to have done better, even though it was just our first season,” Essendon leadership group member Georgia Nanscawen told AAP.

“We didn’t want to use that as an excuse.

“The players and the staff have put in fair bit of hard work, a lot of reviews of last season, and the focus has been on developing both individually and as a team.

“We’ve been able to make some really good steps in playing some good football.

“We play football to play in finals, and to win finals, so to be there and have a shot at it this year is really exciting for the club.”

The Bombers’ women are striving to become the club’s first top-flight team to win a final in more than 7000 days, with Essendon’s AFL side not having tasted post-season success since September 2004.

A key for Essendon’s instant impact in the AFLW has been the solid foundation set at the lower level, with Nanscawen leading the Bombers to the 2022 VFLW premiership.

Shrewd recruitment has paid off, such as the signing of Jacqui Vogt last year after an impressive stint with St Kilda.

The versatile forward said Essendon had given their AFLW program the best possible chance of success.

“The people that work behind the scenes have done a really great job in getting the players that they have across,” Vogt told AAP.

“A lot of hard work goes into the recruiting of players.

“All the hard work from all the people behind the scenes never goes unnoticed.

“We’ve got a really exciting list, not only for this season but what we could produce in the future is really exciting as well.”

Geelong are eyeing a first post-season win in their AFLW history in Sunday’s clash, after falling just short against North Melbourne in an elimination final last year.