ESSENDON star Darcy Parish remains "relaxed" about his upcoming free agency call, but will continue to place talks on hold as he gathers information around the direction of the football club.
AFL.com.au revealed in Inside Trading in March that Parish would delay making a decision on his future until later in the season.
However, speaking on AFL.com.au's trade and draft show Gettable this week, Parish's agent Winston Rous from Phoenix Management Group said the former All-Australian and No.5 draft pick had been impressed by the club's positive start to the year.
"Darcy's having a really good start to his season," Rous said.
"He's someone who is pretty relaxed with it all. He's just focusing largely on his footy and it's something we'll address later on in the season. It just gives you that chance to get a bit more information about everything. But so far, so good. It's quite positive."
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Speaking to AFL.com.au in April, Parish revealed new coach Brad Scott had provided the club with a "clear direction" in his short time at Essendon but said he wouldn't rush into what he described as being the "biggest" decision of his career.
Essendon had since surged into a 4-2 start before dropping last week's clash against reigning premier Geelong, with Rous reiterating that the growing relationship between Parish and Scott would prove influential in his decision.
"It's definitely critical," Rous said.
"The coach-player relationship is often the key driver in most players' decisions, especially coming up into that free agency period. You want to get all of the information, know that there is consistency and stability at the club … CEO, list manager, coach. It's your big decision about where you're going to spend the rest of your career.
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"Again, speaking to the state of that relationship, it has been a really positive one where we've seen the benefits of what's happening with Darcy on-field but also the greater team as well."
Despite his status as the game's No.1 unsigned free agent, Parish has enjoyed a scintillating start to the season and is averaging career-high numbers in disposals (33 per game), contested possessions (13.7 per game), clearances (8.4 per game) and score involvements (7.6 per game).
"Darcy's very relaxed," Rous said.
"He's not someone who thinks about it all too much. He'll just go out, play the best football he can, really try and recreate some of that 2021 form, and be the best teammate he can be in a new system. So far, so good. They've really done some good things."
