Earlier this month, after the heartbreak of losing the Super W final against the Fijiana Drua, Shannon Parry – Australia’s gold medal-winning captain from 2016 – realised something. She had “started to do our job”.
Amongst a small, though captivated crowd, young boys and girls and their parents weren’t just idly watching, they were expressing their gratitude and idolising the players on the field.
After a journey that started 15 years ago and a debut cap for the Wallaroos in 2010, Parry knew stumps was around the corner for her professional playing career.
Shannon Parry announced Saturday’s Test against Fiji would be her final rugby game. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
But despite the disappointment of going down in her final match in a Queensland jersey, she took joy out of seeing what she had helped create.
“I think back to Townsville, you went around the stadium and everyone knew your name,” Parry told reporters on Monday, after announcing Saturday’s Test against Fiji in Sydney would be her final game.
“Ten years ago, 15 years ago, no one knew who your name was, you were just a girl playing rugby.
“I think that’s the change in the profile that rugby has been able to bring is that people want to be a Shannon Parry, they want to be a Charlotte Caslick, and that’s what they strive and achieve to want to be, and without us leaving that legacy, that wouldn’t happen. So, I think we’ve started to do our job.”
While Caslick has been the darling of Australian rugby, wowing the world with her fabulous feet, extraordinary physicality and wonderful instinctive mind, the game would not have changed were it not for Parry’s immense contribution to the game.
Australia’s captain in the 2016 Olympics, her leadership, ruggedness and composure was crucial to the side’s gold medal.
Their success changed the way sport was perceived in Australia and, indeed, globally.
“We talk about leaving a legacy,” Wallaroos coach Jay Tregonning said with a glint in his eye.
“As a young teacher, or not so young teacher, in Illawarra trying to get girls to play rugby, it wasn’t until after the success in 2016 that I started having a lot more girls keen to play and we started getting teams together.
“For me, that’s a massive impact as well because my daughter was a part of that and started playing rugby as well.
“It’s because of players like that, and the opportunities they got and the ability to play in the Olympics, and obviously Shannon being a leader of that environment, that has changed the lives for a lot of girls coming up who are now comfortable playing a sport that they love doing.”
Australia’s women’s sevens team celebrate winning the gold medal against New Zealand at the Deodoro Stadium on August 8, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Parry said winning gold changed her life.
Interestingly, however, it wasn’t for the reasons that instantly spring to mind.
“I definitely think it changed me,” she said.
“It changed me in the sense of how women’s sport is perceived and how I need to be as an individual in terms of professionalism and standards and being a role model for those youngsters.
“But I think it also changed the way women’s rugby is perceived. Gentlemen now watch a game and they go, ‘Girls can do this, girls can do that’ and they wouldn’t have taken the chance years before.
“You’re seeing a lot of changes as well around clubs making more socially acceptable change rooms and venues.
“I think that’s just the change of society really starting to accept women can play male dominated sports. When I started it wasn’t like that at all, it was very different.”
Despite finishing as one of Australian rugby’s most influential figures, it hasn’t always been rosy for the flanker.
An ACL injury in the amateur age, women’s amateur rugby no less, meant she had to grind away teaching full time in Brisbane, before heading to the Ballymore gymnasium to get back in shape.
“You understand who your true teammates are and who your support network is when you’re going solo,” she said.
“It’s a test of character to be able to bounce back from something like that. It’s different now when you’re in a full time set up. You’re getting looked after every minute of the day sort of thing. That was really low for me.”
Perhaps more poignantly, Parry spoke about the sense of belonging, or lack thereof, after the bells and whistles had been put away following their Rio triumph.
Charlotte Caslick, Shannon Parry and Emilee Cherry at Allianz Stadium on August 26, 2016, ahead of the 2017 Sydney Sevens. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
Having conquered the world, breaking glass ceilings along the way, what was next?
“After Rio, when we rode that roller-coaster so high and then it was sort of the coming down, we had our worst season ever with the Australian sevens,” she said.
“For us, it was a rebuilding phase. We learnt a lot about ourselves and Tim Walsh obviously led that charge towards the Commonwealth Games and we were fortunate enough that in 2018 there was a Commonwealth Games so there was something to get back up for.
“But, for us, those two years of being a professional athlete, we didn’t know what we were in for, no-one knew what we were in for. So it was sort of take a chance. Twenty of us took that chance and claimed that gold medal, and for us it sort of started something, but it was that low that we weren’t prepared for.
“You go from the pinnacle and you’re the ‘golden girls’ to everyone goes back to work. You don’t get prepared for that sort of stuff. That was a tough time. Why am I training anymore? Why am I doing this? Why am I doing that? Because I’d done what I wanted to do. I wanted to claim an Olympic gold medal and I’d done it.”
Parry’s comments help paint a picture of the changing landscape of professionalism in Australian sport.
Considered secondary for so long, her experiences are invaluable to heed going forward.
Parry, like her gold medal-winning teammate Emilee Cherry who is working alongside Walsh with Australia’s sevens team, is hoping to make the transition to coaching following Saturday’s Test against Fiji.
“It’s time to transition into something new and I’m very fortunate enough to be supported by Rugby Australia in my coaching journey, and I’ll be taking the Australian youth team to Trinidad and Tobago,” she said.
“It’s giving back to the sport that’s given me so much.
“The time’s right to hang up the boots, and I think I’ve done my job in putting the jersey and returning it in a better place, and hopefully I’ve been able to contribute to the lasting legacy of the Wallaroos.”
Shannon Parry speaks to players at half time during Australia’s pool match against Ireland in the 2017 Sydney Sevens at Allianz Stadium on February 3, 2017. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Having more women move into coaching pathways is vital if indeed rugby union is going to thrive into the future.
Interestingly, Parry insists that the job should always go to the right person rather than their gender.
“I think it’s massive to see obviously more female coaches and around the world that is starting to trend that way as well,” she said.
“I think the transition that I’ve made, and Emilee Cherry’s come through, we’ve obviously played the game at the top level and we’ve been exposed to a lot of high performance environments, so we can definitely draw upon that we’re both teachers as well. So we have the communication skills, which is an added bonus.
“It shouldn’t matter if you’re male or female, whoever the best person is for the job, that’s the person who should get it.”
As well as her Olympic gold, Parry played at four World Cups for the Wallaroos.
All along, she tried to live out the values from one piece of advice given to her at the start of her career.
“One of the things that I got told when I was given my first jersey is that you need to add something to this jersey, and I’ve been fortunate to be in it for a long period of time now and I hope that I’ve been able to contribute to that legacy and encourage youngsters to play the game that has given me so much,” she said.
In spades Parry did that.
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