DARCY Parish believes Essendon are still a finals-calibre side at their best, but their top eight charge will have to begin with a win against Carlton this weekend.
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The rising star joined teammates Aaron Francis, Dylan Clarke, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Ben McNiece and Luke Lavender on the Border on Tuesday.
Despite news coming through on Tuesday afternoon that star forward Joe Daniher is set to miss at least four weeks as a result of an osteitis pubis diagnosis, Parish said there was still time for the Bombers to iron out inconsistencies in their game.
“We've been up and down all year, and losing one quarter each game has really cost us,” he said.
“We've been playing some OK footy in patches, but we need to deliver a four-quarter performance.
“The competition is fairly even at the moment, you have to bring a 100 per cent effort each week to win games – any team can pull out an upset on their day if they play their best footy.
“We absolutely see ourselves as a finals team, it's still early in the season.
"We haven’t had the results we'd like, but we think we can turn it around pretty quickly.”
Taken with the fifth pick in the 2015 draft, Parish played 40 games in his first two seasons at Windy Hill heading into season 2018.
Having spent the majority of his time in the midfield to begin his career, the Bombers have experimented with Parish playing more in the forward line this season.
The 20-year old has averages as many disposals through the first seven games, and said he was adjusting well to the modified role.
“I'm not feeling too bad, I'm playing a different role up forward more and then through the midfield,” he said.
“That something I want to work on, my outside game, playing different roles for the team, whatever they need from me.
“Obviously we've been a bit up and down to start the season, but I'm working really hard on my own performance and playing my role for the team.
“You always want to build on certain aspects of your game that need improvement, that outside spread and running patterns up forward have been those things for me.
“It’s good to learn different aspects of the game, becoming a complete player is the goal for me.”
The Bombers will look to end a three-game losing streak and reignite their finals charge when they face Carlton at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.