TheGame wrote:
That shocker of a coach Parkin won 4 flags, 3 for Carllton.
I for one don't minimise Parkin's contribution. I admired him greatly. He was in the unfortunate situation of having to coach Carlton during 2 stints during Elliot's reign. At least he was able to count on Elliott to go beyond the call of duty in signing up some important players (Williams, Brown, Bradley and Silvagni and others), but he meddled in other ways too.
In 1993, Parko almost took us to a flag despite us being out of the finals the year before.
Recently he wrote about the 1995 premiership. He noted that the seeds were sown after the unexpected loss in the Semi-final to Geelong in 1994, despite Couch, Bairstow and Hocking being unavailable. He said that after that loss, Bradley and Williams accepted reluctantly that their roles had to change. In Williams' case, this meant that he had to surrender his iron grip over the centre. Ratten was given more of a go there and Williams also changed with Brown, going forward more. In the 1995 Grand Final he kicked 5. Bradley accepted that he had to be more accountable for his opponent.
Parko was also lucky to have a group of elite, older players who were capable of good leadership. Sticks, Bradley, SOS, Diesel, Dean and others were at a stage where they could see the dream of a premiership slipping away. They committed themselves to winning in 1995. He was able to relax the reigns and "empower" the playing group. But then again, if you had someone who had the integrity and the authority of Sticks coming to you and assuring you that the privilege would not be abused, this would not have been an immense leap of faith.
After that, Elliott surely hindered Parko's efforts. His declaration that all of the premiership players would have a job for life and that rebuilding was not a word used at Carlton were examples of this. As Harry Madden was the favourite player of Elliott's daughter, he had to be retained. The most Parko could do was banish him to the 2nds until he saw the writing on the wall. Elliott's use of the paper bags and his war with the AFL were others. Elliott's hamfisted attempts to bludgeon Hamill into remaining was not particularly helpful.
The failure to draft youth after 1995 was no doubt largely caused by Elliott. But it is a legacy of Parko's reign that endures.
Could history suggest that Parko failed to take back the reigns when Sticks departed? Allowing the players their head in 1995 was a successful management stategy. It showed that flexibility in management styles can reap rewards. But did Parko err by leaving that stategy unchanged despite changes in personnel and circumstance?
Could Pagan take a leaf out of Parko's book and empower the players? Or would that be a mistake given the lack of senior players who command respect? Are the senior players willing to adapt their games as Williams and Bradley did in 1995?
So, Parko did well in often difficult circumstances. But that doesn't mean that Pagan ought to duplicate his methods.
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(or maybe the AFL had instructed pagan to make sure Adelaide won -best for the comp and all that).
