Almost a year after he introduced himself to the wider rugby league world with a glorious try at a sun-drenched Brookvale Oval, Ethan Parry has found himself uncontracted and set adrift.
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The 21-year-old outside back from Tamworth, by way of Werris Creek, has admitted to an uneasy combination of apathy and overzealousness prior to Parramatta releasing him from the final year of his contract late last month - in what was his sixth season at the Eels. The club signed him as a 15-year-old, and he rose through the ranks, propelled by an arresting combination of size and speed. His departure from Parra was by mutual consent.
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In a frank interview with the Leader, Parry spoke about life and footy - including his planned resurrection as an NRL player (he has played two games).
From the captivating moment of that Brookvale try, in his NRL debut, when he utilised blazing speed to chase down a Dylan Brown grubber and surprise his Manly opposite, winger Jorge Taufua, by pouncing on the ball in-goal, to now being unsigned and eyeing a return to park footy to regroup and plot the revival of his NRL dream. That is the broad strokes of Parry's story over the past year.
The finer detail includes him working as an apprentice carpenter when the NRL was suspended due to the pandemic. When that work dried up, and with him on the way out at Parra, his mental health was adversely affected. "Because all I've known from day dot was football, football, football. When everything stopped and I had time to myself to think about sh*t, it wasn't the best."
"At the moment, I'm focused on myself," he added, when asked if he was in talks with another NRL club. "I'll probably go back and play some Ron Massey Cup for the rest of the year [perhaps with his former club, Wentworthville, if the comp recommences] - just to get back to enjoying my footy and loving it like I used to.
"It got a bit stressful [at the Eels] at the back end of last year and the start of this year ... just falling out of love with the game. So, hopefully get back to my roots is what I'm hoping [for], and find the spark again."
Parry grew as a footballer to play for the Australian Schoolboys and for NSW's under-20 Origin side, while growing to 191 centimetres and 97 kilograms. Parra had high expectations of him.
But he said it was the expectations he placed on himself that proved the most burdensome. "I put too much pressure on myself, I believe. I put a high expectation on myself, and [I] wasn't thinking about, like, the basic parts of football. I was too worried about everything else that was going on around [me].
"I think I got comfortable in the situation where I was, and I wasn't pushing myself and striving for something better."
It was then that he said he "slacked off a little bit". "I wasn't doing my extras, I wasn't the first to training ... I think I sort of fell away."
To a large degree, Parry's time at the Eels informed who he is a man, and he would love to re-sign with them one day. But at present the club is stacked with an abundance of outside-back talent: Maika Sivo and Blake Ferguson on the wings; Michael Jennings and Waqa Blake in the centres.
Parry said: "I believe I should be playing week in, week out. Not at Parramatta: I know there's a bit more talent there, there's more experience there [than some other clubs]. I'm sure there's another club around that I can get a hold of, that I can fit in somewhere."
Parry's younger brother, Cody, is signed to the Eels and played in the under-16 Harold Matthews Cup this year.
