Darcy Parish injury update: How Essendon midfielder is changing his running style on bounce back

Darcy Parish is making a fundamental change on his quest to get back into Essendon’s side after yet another interrupted pre-season. JAY CLARK has the latest from the Essendon injury room.

Essendon midfield jet Darcy Parish has tweaked his running style in a bid to overcome the back and calf-related injuries which have stalled his career.

The man who finished equal-fifth in the 2021 Brownlow Medal has sought specialist advice in recent weeks to address his running gait and eliminate the issues causing his ongoing back and soft-tissue issues.

The ball magnet is on the verge of a breakthrough this week as he prepares to rejoin the main group and increase his training load as part of a key step forward.

Parish, 27, is aiming to return in about one month through the VFL.

Darcy Parish at Essendon football training. Saturday, January 11. 2025. Picture: David Crosling

Essendon football manager Daniel McPherson said Parish had sought a reassessment on the mechanics of his running style to help take the pressure off his back.

“You get different opinions from externals every now and again and with him it was like, yes let’s have a look at a couple of different things,” McPherson said.

“But he started to get going a bit now.

“(There are) a couple of slight tweaks in his running gait but I was watching him running this morning and he looks the same, so there are minor adjustments I think.

“But it has given him a little bit of different feedback and different information which he has taken on board and off they go.”

Parish complained of back soreness before Christmas and has been in a limited training phase for two months which will mean he will have to undertake a strong conditioning block.

The Geelong Falcons product signed a six-year contract extension to keep him at the club until the end of 2029 amid interest from the Cats.

In his absence the club will look to number five draft pick Elijah Tsatas to join Zach Merrett, Jye Caldwell, Sam Durham, Nick Martin and Will Setterfield inside the engine room.

Archie Perkins is set to take Jake Stringer’s half forward role.

They will come up against a Hawthorn side likely without injured hard nut James Worpel on Friday night at the MCG in front of more than 80,000 fans.

McPherson said the club would not rush Parish’s recovery off the back of only 12 games last season and 12 months of injury issues.

“It is mainly the back which has been the thing that has slowed him up a bit,” McPherson said.

Nik Cox. Picture: Mark Stewart

Darcy Parish. Picture: Mark Stewart

“It has been on and off for a while, but that was what slowed him up over Christmas and the early part of the year.

“But he seems to be on the right track now.

“So we will be slowly, slowly with him these next few weeks and hopefully he is able to keep progressing.

“He will get back into some footy work next week with a view to him being playing whether it is a scratchy or something or a VFL game in about three weeks or four weeks’ time.”

Defender Nik Cox has begun making a slow recovery from his concussion issues but remains a long way off pushing for selection.

“He is not doing contact stuff but he is back in doing ball movement drills so he has been able to move past just some straight line running and that sort of thing,” he said.

“So the signs are OK. But he is still a fair way away. He went through a period where he wasn’t doing much at all.

“So he has got a fair bit of work to do once he passes the concussion stuff even from a conditioning perspective.”

Originally published as Darcy Parish injury update: How Essendon midfielder is changing his running style on bounce back