Parfitt proud to play in Sir Doug Nicholls Round

GEELONG midfielder Brandan Parfitt is looking forward to this week’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round in the AFL and hopes Nakia Cockatoo might be there alongside him.
The Cats play Adelaide in Round 13, which the AFL has earmarked as their annual round to recognise and celebrate Indigenous players and culture.
“Being Indigenous and growing up with all my family being Indigenous, it’s pretty special to jot these dates in when you know you’re playing the games,” Parfitt said.
“Obviously this year’s a little bit different (with the coronavirus).
“My good mate (Cats player Quinton Narkle) designed our guernsey last year and I think it’s going to be the same guernsey we’re going to wear this year, so it’s pretty special and I’m looking forward to running out.”
He said Cockatoo, who has battled a series of knee and soft tissue injuries, was in the frame for Sunday’s game at the Adelaide Oval.
“He’s a really good player and a really good bloke as well. He’s had his injury problems, but he’s strung a lot of football together now and I think he’s on the verge, so hopefully he can come in.”
Parfitt said Cockatoo would be equally hopeful of being selected for the Sir Doug Nicholls Round.
“I’m sure he would be – he’s a proud Indigenous man – so I think he’d have his fingers crossed. I don’t really know, I’m not at the selection table, but I think he’s doing everything he can to put his best foot forward.”
Parfittt said he was lucky in not having experienced any racial vilification online personally, but said it was an issue that the AFL’s Indigenous players continued to face.
“Obviously in the AFL, there’s still a little bit to work on. Blokes are still getting racially vilified mostly through social media, which isn’t a great look and I guess as a younger person probably doesn’t make me feel happy and wanting to see it. It’s not a good thing to see. It’s a disgusting look and it makes me feel sick even thinking about it.”
Geelong goes into Sunday’s game following 10-goal wins over highly-placed Port Adelaide and St Kilda.
Parfitt, who has become a regular in the Cats’ midfield, said the August 14 win over the Power was the result of consistent effort.
“We played four quarters of the Geelong way and the scoreboard reflects that a little bit – in the last quarter, we kicked away a little bit – but the way we want to play; we went about it the right way.
“I think at the start of the year we were a bit up and down with our performances but I think in the past month we’ve strung some really good games together where we play really strong football for four quarters and we’re able to knock off two really good sides in the past two weeks now.
“With the team balance, our runners are running hard defensively and working hard, it enables us to set up with our attack and we’re able to chip the ball around and when we go fast, we go fast. You know Tomahawk (Tom Hawkins) is obviously playing well at the moment and so are a few of the other blokes as well.”
Adelaide has zero wins from its 12 games, but Parfitt said the Cats would not consider Sunday’s game to be an automatic victory.
“At the back of our mind, every time we’ve gone up against teams that are probably lower than us on ladder position, we’ve sort of haven’t performed, and I think this week the messaging is ‘Make sure you go on with the right mindset and play the best football’, so I think that’s what we’ll be doing.”
He was equally reluctant to consider Geelong’s prospects of playing finals.
“I haven’t heard anyone talk about the F-word just yet, but I’m sure we’ll play a few more good games and we’ll get to that place.”
In terms of his own game and performance, Parfitt said he was “actually feeling pretty good”.
“The past month or so, I was actually pretty sore, but now I’m freshened up. I think the saltwater has helped here, and the sun, but yeah I’m feeling good, and looking forward to attack the next few games.”