Pari Pari’s source of rugby return: ‘The joy I get from hurting other people’
The big lock sits down with Paul Cully to discuss that knee injury, fatherhood, his future, and his love of a private life away from the spotlight.
Earlier this year, Pari Pari Parkinson quietly signed a new Highlanders contract that will see him stay in Dunedin until at least 2024.
It wasn’t announced anywhere but the lack of fanfare suits Parkinson down to the ground. A private man – the 26-year-old describes himself as ‘‘a bit of hermit’’ – Parkinson’s world is his partner Emma Huffman, daughter Lennon (who arrived in April), their dog and his rugby.
A serious injury has taken rugby away from him for a year, but after a long recovery Parkinson is not far off doing what he does best: employing his 204cm, 130kg frame to inflict some damage on the rugby field. The way Parkinson describes it, it’s not just a job – it’s a reward system.
‘‘It’s a personal thing,’’ he tells the Sunday Star-Times. ‘‘How much did I get from that dopamine hit from flatlining someone... from someone trying to run into me and I lifted them off the ground and threw them backwards? That’s where I get the happiness in the game from. I don’t even know if it’s a metric that can be measured.’’
The knee injury was bad. Playing for Tasman at the end 2021, Parkinson was taken out in an accidental collision with Makos and Blues flanker Anton Segner.
The ACL, PCL and MCL were all damaged and Parkinson said the following months were a blur of surgery and medications, followed by a longer, frustrating process of box-ticking and trips to the surgeon in Christchurch.
But, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
His running and sprinting capacity has returned, although generating upwards force remains ‘‘a bit of a struggle’’ and is a focus for the coming months.
‘‘Now I’m at a point where it’s just contact progressions and making sure I’m functioning properly in those,’’ he says. ‘‘And so far, it feels good, with the exception of some scar tissue pulling in and then coming undone. A bit of a scare, but it ultimately feels pretty good.’’
Despite his reluctance to be the centre of attention – new Highlanders player mentor Nasi Manu played a role in cajoling Parkinson to sit for this interview – Parkinson is a fascinating character. He can be eloquent and honest, and there is more than a hint of a dry sense of humour.
The rugby public is fascinated by his sheer size and mentality.
New Zealand locks tend to be allcourt specialists, but Parkinson just wants to dominate opponents. He also admits to having a fuse that can be easily lit and, if he had his way, ‘‘I’d be trying to take everyone out’’ at Highlanders training.
But mention his young daughter and his face softens and smile breaks out. ‘‘It’s had its ups and downs, as I think as any big life change will have, and as anyone who’s become a parent will testify to. But it’s by far the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had in my life,’’ he says. ‘‘I get excited to go home and see what she’s done today, or what she’s learnt today.’’
Of course, with parenthood comes added responsibility. That’s one reason why Parkinson ‘‘jumped at the chance’’ of a twoyear deal with the Highlanders that came soon after his knee reconstruction. Prior to the injury, He’d started to explore the overseas market, but now he is in the process of buying a house in Dunedin with the benefit of contractual security for the next two years.
That gives the Ma¯ori All Black a nice window to regain full fitness and form, but don’t expect Parkinson to be thinking about the long term when he returns to paddock. In fact, he pushes back when it is suggested that his knee injury is something he may have to ‘‘manage’’ for the rest of his career.
‘‘I don’t think about it that way,’’ he says. ‘‘I want to get to the point where it’s exactly the same. I don’t think I’ll settle for any less. And ultimately, the strength in my game prior was never in my knee. It was always in my mindset, it was always in my size, and my willingness to throw my body into contact, and the joy I get from hurting other people.
‘‘All I want to do is be able to get my fitness to a level where I can play 80 [minutes] and get my knee to a place where I can start lining people up. And then I can start picking them up and I can start throwing them around and putting them through the turf and dropping shoulders into people .... it’s a bloody good feeling, to feel someone give way underneath your shoulders.’’