Darcy Parish overlooked by Essendon great in brutal Anzac Day snub

Darcy Parish had a standout game in the traditional Anzac Day AFL game, but he was surprisingly snubbed by an Essendon legend.

Jobe Watson didn't rate Darcy Parish's performance on Anzac Day.

Essendon’s Darcy Parish may have had a standout game but he was surprisingly snubbed by a former Bombers great in the voting for the Anzac Day medal.

Collingwood won the traditional Anzac Day clash against Essendon 93 (15.3) to 82 (12.10) and Parish had a day out, collecting 44 disposals at 75 per cent efficiency, as well as 12 clearances.

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The midfielder’s prolific ball-winning ability meant he was in the running for the medal awarded to the best player on the ground, which he won in the same game last year.

But Parish was surprisingly overlooked by former Essendon great Jobe Watson, who didn’t give him any votes in his 3-2-1 allocation.

The 2012 Brownlow medallist was the only judge not to give Parish a vote — the other three judges rated him at least the second best player on the field.

Watson instead gave his votes to Collingwood youngster Jack Ginnivan (3), Jordan De Goey (2) and Scott Pendlebury (1).

Interesting Jobe Watson didn't have Darcy Parish in his top 3 players. https://t.co/SOpy00raFT

— Glenn McFarlane (@MaccaHeraldSun) April 25, 2022

Ginnivan won the Anzac Day medal after he kicked five goals — the first time a Magpies player has kicked five goals on Anzac Day since Travis Cloke in 2008.

He was awarded the medal, despite Champion Data’s player-ranking system not listing him in the top-ten players on the field.

Jobe Watson didn’t rate Darcy Parish's Anzac Day game. (AAP Image/Michael Dodge)

Darcy Parish had a serious case of leather poisoning. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Collingwood opted not to deploy a hard tag on Parish, which concerned Magpies coach Craig McRae when he was running riot in the second quarter.

“I was going, ‘What’s going on here?’ He just kept racking it up,” McRae told AFL 360 on Monday night.

“I felt he had moments of influence. Particularly late in that second quarter, just everything around the ball, he was winning the ball, around clearance in particular.

“You’ve got to be on top of these things because these players, Lachie Neale the week before got the ball in his hands too much and can just have so much influence.”

McRae said he yelled to assistant coach Brendon Bolton: “Bolts, What are you doing Bolts? He goes, ‘Yeah, we’ll have a look at it.”

Parish may have been snubbed for the medal but his more immediate concern is an ankle injury he suffered late in the game on Monday.

Spotted wearing a moon boot on Tuesday, he underwent scans but was cleared of any significant structural damage to his ankle.

Essendon has been one of the disappointments of the season and sit third last on the ladder with only one win.

Originally published as Darcy Parish overlooked by Essendon great in brutal Anzac Day snub