Luke Parker (born 25 October 1992) is a professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who plays for the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). He plays as a midfielder. Originally from

Langwarrin, Victoria Langwarrin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Frankston local government area. Langwarrin recorded a population of 23,588 at the . Langwarrin is bo ...

, Parker played for the

Dandenong Stingrays The Dandenong Southern Stingrays are an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. 1992 saw the birth of the Southern Stingrays, developed under the leadership of Steve Kennedy (Regional Ma ...

before being drafted by Sydney with the 40th pick in the 2010 National Draft. He made his senior debut in round eight of the 2011 season, and quickly established himself in the line-up. Parker won a premiership in his second season, and has since played in three more losing grand finals (in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

). He won the

Bob Skilton Medal The Bob Skilton Medal is an annual Australian rules football award presented to the player(s) adjudged the best and fairest at the Sydney Swans (formerly the South Melbourne Football Club) throughout the Victorian Football League/Australian Footb ...

as Sydney's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

player in 2014, 2017 and 2021. He also finished runner-up to

Patrick Dangerfield Patrick Dangerfield (born 5 April 1990) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Adelaide Football Club. Drafted by Adelaide in 2007, Dangerfi ...

in the

2016 Brownlow Medal The 2016 Brownlow Medal was the 89th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Patrick Dangerfield of the Geelong Football Club won the meda ...

, a season in which he was also named in the

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

for the first time.

Early life

Parker grew up in

, on

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

's south-eastern outskirts. He played both basketball and football as a youngster, eventually choosing to pursue the latter at the age of 16. In the

TAC Cup The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victo ...

, Parker played for the

and won the club

in his first season. He made the TAC Cup Team of the Year in 2010, although he broke his jaw in the competition's preliminary final. Parker also played for Victoria Country in the

2010 AFL Under 18 Championships The 2010 NAB AFL Under 18 Championships was the 15th edition of the AFL Under 18 Championships. Eight teams competed in the championships: Vic Metro, Vic Country, South Australia and Western Australia in Division 1, and New South Wales/Australian ...

. Parker was educated at St Peter’s Catholic College in

Cranbourne West Cranbourne West is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 40 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Casey local government area. Cranbourne West recorded a population of 19,969 at the 20 ...

AFL career

Parker was drafted by Sydney with the club's second pick (and 40th overall) in the 2010 National Draft. He made his debut in Round 8 of the

2011 AFL season The 2011 AFL season was the 115th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured s ...

against . He received his first career

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

vote in the Swans' Round 16 victory over the

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...

where he had 26 disposals and kicked two goals, helping the side to its first win on the Gold Coast for twenty-four years. It was an impressive debut year from Parker playing as small, tackling forward and in the midfield. He was compared to his teammate

Jude Bolton Jude Bolton (born 15 March 1980) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL) between 1999 and 2013. Early life Growing up, he supported the St Kilda Footbal ...

, due to his hardness at the contest, strong tackling and ability to win contested possession. The young midfielder took a significant step forward in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, moving from a regular substitute at the back end of the previous season to a dangerous and highly valued member of the starting line-up. Playing every game, he averaged 21 disposals and five marks and proved a more than handy forward, finishing with 22 goals. In

, Parker further made his mark on the team becoming the youngest player since

Michael O'Loughlin Michael Kevin O'Loughlin (born 20 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played his entire Australian Football League career with the Sydney Swans. O'Loughlin was named a member of the Indigenous Team of t ...

in 1998 to be awarded the

recognised by the coaches as the Swans' Best and Fairest. He also won the Paul Kelly Players’ Player award which is voted on each week by the playing group. In 2015, Parker became a member of the leadership group, at just 22 years of age. His courage and determination on the field was recognised by his peers, as Parker won the Robert Rose Award for the AFL’s Most Courageous Player. Unfortunately his season ended prematurely when he suffered a fractured fibula when had his right leg twist awkwardly in a tackle against Collingwood in round 20. Parker made a strong comeback in 2016, being awarded the Brett Kirk Medal (best on ground in the Sydney Derby) in round three. He won the Most Courageous Player award for the second year running and polled second in the

with 26 votes, only beaten by

of the

Geelong Cats The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...

. He was also rewarded with his first ever All Australian honours in a career best season. Parker had a consistent year in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, averaging 25.4 disposals a game. After the Swans lost their first six games of the season, they would then only lose two of their last sixteen home-and-away matches. Parker's role in the Swans' form turnaround was particularly prominent, once again winning the Bob Skilton Medal.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of the 2022 season''. , - ,

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Honours and achievements

Team * AFL premiership player ():

* 2×

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy which has been awarded each year since 1951 by the Australian Football League (known prior to 1990 as the Victorian Football League) to the best-performing club in the home-and-away sea ...

():

Individual * Sydney captain: 2019– * 3×

: 2014, 2017, 2021 *

* 2× Robert Rose Award (AFLPA Most Courageous Player): 2015, 2016 * 2× 22under22 team: 2016, 2017 * 5×

Brett Kirk Medal The Sydney Derby, also known as The Battle of the Bridge is an Australian rules football local derby match between the two Sydney based Australian Football League (AFL) clubs, the Sydney Swans and the Greater Western Sydney Giants. As of Round ...

: 2016 (round 12), 2020 (round 12), 2021 (round 18), 2022 (round 1), 2022 (round 20)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Luke 1992 births Living people Sydney Swans players Sydney Swans Premiership players Dandenong Stingrays players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Bob Skilton Medal winners All-Australians (AFL) One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players AFL Academy graduates People from the City of Frankston