Blackhawk up Season spent away from club ignites the passion for most-capped player
MICHAEL Parker-walshe has pulled on a Townsville Blackhawks jersey more times than any other player, but he credits his season away from the club for reinvigorating his Queensland Cup career. Parker-walshe played his 73rd game for the Blackhawks in last Friday night’s 22-6 win over Mackay to overtake former captain Anthony Mitchell as the club’s most capped player.
It was a milestone that appeared out of reach for the foundation halfback when he retired from the Q-cup last season, instead playing for Brothers in the local A-grade competition.
Parker-walshe also tried his hand at coaching as part of the Blackhawks under-20s staff before the playing bug got the better of him and he joined the top squad for the 2019 pre-season.
The 29-year-old said he had a spring in his step after returning to the playing field and he hoped there was no end in sight to his time at the Blackhawks.
“It was obviously a long road, but it was a pretty proud moment,” Parker-walshe said of his milestone game.
“Being there from day one you form a really good relationship with everyone involved in the club.
“I guess having that year off was good in the sense it gave my body a bit of a break. Playing footy at this level is really, really tough on your body. “There’s still seven or eight games to go in the regular season this year so anything can happen, but if the club wants to have me I’ll be happy to stay.” That’s not to say his Q-cup comeback has been all smooth sailing.
Parker-walshe has spent time on the sidelines this season through a combination of form and injury, but he has now carved out a role as Townsville’s supersub.
The former Cowboys under-20s playmaker said it was an unfamiliar challenge, but one that he was keen to embrace as the Blackhawks chase that elusive premiership. “We started the year off really well in Round 1 and I probably started thinking to myself ‘well, how good’s this?’ and I’d slot straight back in there,” Parker-walshe said. “But you start getting into the week-to-week grind and the toll that playing footy at that level takes on your body and stuff like that is pretty tough.
“I played a little bit in the halves this year and I probably haven’t been as good as I need to be.
“Payney (coach Aaron Payne) has found a role for me on the bench, which I’m really enjoying at the moment. It’s a bit of a freshen up and something that I’ve never really done before.
“You sort of just make your tackles and have your hit-ups so going from playing in the halves where you’ve got to think about everything else simplifies your role a fair bit.
“We get to that 50-minute mark in the second half and if I haven’t been required until then, he just throws me on in the middle and says go out and do your best. I’m really enjoying it.”
The Blackhawks will be chasing a fifth-straight win when they host the Northern Pride at Jack Manski Oval this afternoon and Parker-walshe felt they were starting to play to their potential.
“Our attack has still got a lot of improvement, but our defence has been second to none all year,” he said.
“If we can keep improving on the attack side of things and make sure that we keep turning up week-in, week-out defensively then we’ll string more wins together and be hard to beat come the pointy end of the season.”
Kick-off at Jack Manski Oval today is at 4pm.