“They have shown so much promise”: Parker wants to give Kangaroos credit

Forget the experience – North Melbourne recruit Luke Parker wants to instill belief in his young AFL teammates.

Former Sydney captain Parker, who won the premiership in 2012 and played in 293 games in four losing grand finals, sealed a move to Alastair Clarkson’s Kangaroos in the off-season.

Parker, 32, left a team constantly in Premier League contention for a young northern team that last played in the finals in 2016 and has been in the bottom two for the last four years.

“When I spoke to Clarko towards the end of the season there was a strong belief that they are really ready to grow their club and go in the right direction and that they just need a few small key changes and a few small percentage increases “To take this to the next level,” Parker said.

“And that really excited me.

“There was a similar time when Sydney crashed and there’s probably a similar feeling here too, where it doesn’t take much to turn the situation around, develop a bit of confidence and get things back on track.”

“And that’s the challenge I’m really looking forward to.”

Parker, along with former Bulldog Caleb Daniel and former Eagle Jack Darling, want to offer more than just experience to players like Harry Sheezel, George Wardlaw, Colby McKercher and Zane Duursma.

“The biggest thing for these guys is faith,” he said.

“You have a core group of leaders who have really high standards. But it’s almost like there’s probably a little bit of doubt because the wins aren’t on the list.”

“I think it’s almost reassuring that we’re going in the right direction. We’re doing the right things and continuing to push those standards.”

“They obviously took a bit of time to get the group together in terms of recruiting and the people they wanted and the young people that are involved are great.”

“They have shown so much promise that hopefully the older ones can feel that belief and self-confidence starting to grow and we can continue to build on that over the next few months.”

Parker had hoped to achieve success with Sydney but ended up scoring three goals in the grand final loss to Brisbane.

But he was ready for a new challenge – and headed north after Clarkson told him the Kangaroos needed his leadership but also his help on the field.

“That was the most important thing, that he gave me belief in the impact I could have here,” he said.

“When I heard that, I was kind of all in.”

Parker was looking forward to playing with the hard-nosed Wardlaw, who, he joked, had “a screw loose.”

But he expects to play a mix of midfield and forward minutes.

“There are exciting players all over the field,” he said.

“This is something great – I look at the team sheet and it looks as good as any other team.”