Corey Parker’s stealth like ascension up the NRL games record chart continued undeterred Thursday night, his latest victim Brad Fittler with whom he drew level on 336 games.
Those he has passed this year include Cliff Lyons, Nathan Hindmarsh, and fishing enthusiast Andrew Ettingshausen. Now that 336 has been achieved, two less imposing numbers stand between Parker and his rise to the top of the ranks: 3 – the men that sit above him on the all-time games list – and 20 – games needed to overhaul his long time teammate and current record holder Darren Lockyer.
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Parker is no grizzled veteran hobbling on his last leg into the record books as you would assume a forward in his 16th season would be, rather he is rising the ranks playing arguably career-best football with a further two seasons on the horizon.
If someone had told you in 2001 after seeing a young bald headed undersized front rower make his debut for the Broncos that he would one day become the NRL games record holder, you would have been well within your rights to question that person’s sanity or indeed question whether they had access to the fabled sports almanac from Back to the Future.
As debuts go it was an excellent introduction to top grade scoring a try in a Broncos win over the Warriors but nothing that would foreshadow the decorated career ahead.
Before exploring his career in greater depth it must be acknowledged at this point that Parker also achieved the rare feat of having more hair at the end of his career than at the start otherwise known as a reverse Sterling.
Parker started his career at the Broncos as the upstart young pup trying to mix it with the old dogs of Webcke, Thorn, Tallis and company.
These clashes gave an early insight into the extensive self-belief and competitiveness that pulse through Parker and have been imperative in sustaining his longevity in the game.
Parker became a fixture in the Broncos forward rotation after his debut 2001 season. The first half of his career was highlighted by a Broncos premiership win in 2006, representative honours were limited to three Origin appearances in 2004 and 2005 in a notoriously difficult period for the Maroons.
It appeared Parker was destined for a career as a distinguished clubman giving his all week-in-week-out appreciated by the Broncos faithful but just another player to the wider rugby league community. Parker was in need of a second-half career renaissance, and a change of jersey number would be the catalyst.
The Ivan Henjak years will not be remembered with misty eyed nostalgia by Broncos supporters however the emergence of Corey Parker, lock forward, coincided with the arrival of the successor to Wayne Bennett.
The move to 13 reinvigorated Parker and the player we see today emerged: a workaholic metre-eater who had added the deadly and now trademark offload to his game.
His career resurgence hit overdrive in 2011 when Queensland selectors brought him in from the cold and into the now all conquering Maroons team 2005 a distant memory.
On the club front Parker was the Broncos best forward and pack leader the young pup had become the top dog. The heartbreak of a preliminary final loss was softened by the selection in his first Kangaroos squad for the end of year Four Nations tour. A debut game against Wales made it official he was now an Australian representative player.
This would not be the crescendo of Parker’s second act, rather, just the harbinger of things to come.
In recent years, representative jerseys, once a bridge too far, now look as comfortable on him as his Broncos jersey.
His premiership ring is no longer lonely in the trophy cabinet with a Rugby League World Cup winner’s medallion keeping it company.
He is now an automatic selection for both his state and country while his unerring loyalty and dedication to the Broncos was rewarded with the captains arm band this year.
His stat line on Thursday night of 18 hit-ups, 145m, four tackle busts and a try reads like a player in their prime, not one playing game number 336. However Parker is proving to be one of the rare players that is peaking when conventional wisdom and history suggests that he should be declining.
I for one hope Corey Parker’s cover is blown and his ascension to the top of the NRL games record list is no longer done with stealth below the radar but is openly celebrated and championed by the games administrators, his peers, and rugby league fans.
The outstanding second act of the Corey Parker career is not yet complete. May it long continue and be appreciated by as many people as possible.
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