Parfitt at home
Time out a learning curve for young Cat
YOUNG Cat Brandan Parfitt spent parts of last year navigating a truck around Adelaide.
Parfitt, 19, also tried his hand as a labourer while he plotted his path to the AFL.
He juggled work and football — the AIS Academy and national championships for the Allies as well as SANFL seniors and under-18s.
“I got into a truck driving job … I didn’t really know Adelaide too well so I was always on Google Maps, wasting a lot of data,” the Darwin born and raised footballer said. “I was pretty happy I got out of that and got drafted.”
Parfitt didn’t have the greatest luck leading into last year’s draft, not like the year before when he excelled as a bottom-age player at the national championships.
He struggled with a groin injury and certainly didn’t think he would be Geelong’s top pick.
“It was definitely a shock,” Parfitt said. “I talked to ( Geelong recruiter Stephen Wells) briefly at the draft combine. He sort of said along the lines, ‘I don’t really know too much about you, tell me how you went this year.’
“I got the vibe that he obviously didn’t watch me. I didn’t think too much about Geelong.”
The Cats clearly were thinking about the 179cm forward prospect, calling his name at pick 26 on draft night and later giving him Jimmy Bartel’s No.3 jumper.
Knowing Nakia Cockatoo and Steven Motlop, both Darwin lads, helped him settle in.
Now Parfitt is loving life down by Corio Bay, where he and fellow first-year players Esava Ratugolea and Quinton Narkle live with a local family.
“We’re best friends and we hang out all the time,” Parfitt said. “I’ve got some really good mates now.”
Parfitt moved to Adelaide at 16 with his mother Jody Peris (a cousin of Olympian and former senator Nova) and sister Rickelle. He finished his high school education there and was schooled in football, too, playing seniors for North Adelaide when he was 17.
“I just thought there was more opportunity and a better football environment in Adelaide playing in the SANFL,” he said.
“SANFL’s not as elite as AFL, but coming from Darwin where you train two days a week and (it’s) a pretty laid-back lifestyle, it gave me a better insight into being a professional.”
At North Adelaide he played alongside Jack Graham (Richmond), Ben Jarman (Adelaide) and Will Hayward (Sydney), all of whom also found AFL homes and remain good mates.
Parfitt’s father David played about 250 games in Darwin, was a club captain and is still coaching. He was a big defender, a different player to his son, who is making the high half-forward role his own.
“He’s got a really good footy brain,” Parfitt said of his dad.
“Mum’s pretty short and he’s pretty tall — I must have got mum’s height.
“He was a full-back. I’ve heard a lot of stories he was a great fullback. He used to run off his man a lot. He definitely tells me about it.”
Parfitt played every game in a dream AFL debut before his hamstring went ping against Collingwood in Round 6.
Champion Data shows Parfitt’s pressure acts in that period caused 17 opposition turnovers, rating second at Geelong only to captain Joel Selwood.
His ability to hunt the ball and opposition has been lauded. His Round 3 display against Melbourne, which included 23 disposals and five tackles, earned a Rising Star nomination.
Exposure to a different game in the Top End in his younger years has undoubtedly helped the AFL rookie hit the ground running.
“I played a lot of rugby growing up — it probably helps with tackling technique and being a bit aggressive,” Parfitt said. “As a small forward you’ve got to bring that pressure.
“To keep myself in the side I’ve got to bring that pressure.
“I know that’s what I have to do to keep my spot.”
Parfitt, who returned against Brisbane in Round 16 before missing last week against Adelaide with hamstring tightness — he’s back today against Carlton — found positives in his 10 weeks on the sidelines, working closely with Motlop on his forward craft.
“I was starting to feel pretty confident out there and play some good footy and then it happened,” he said. “That’s footy. “Sometimes that happens. “Knowing my body and the rehab, the process you have to go through, it was a good learning curve in the first year to go through that and still come out of it and play some senior footy. We’ve got a great playing list and hopefully I can seal my spot in the best 22 and play finals this year.”