Speaking in Albury on Thursday, Parkin (OAM) said men in rural and regional Australia needed to know their family’s health history.

Parkin said a men’s health event at Warrnambool – though he stressed it might have been anywhere in regional Australia – proved his point.

He said of the 240 people who turned up, 60 were women.

“I stood up 180 blokes and asked them to stay standing if their father was dead,” he said.

“Of the 160 still standing, I asked them if they knew what their father had died of.

“100 didn’t know what their father had died of!

“It’s showing us we need to be more interested in our health lineage.”

Parkin said prostate cancer was the biggest killer of men in East Gippsland.

“By the time men go to the doctor for the problem it’s too late,” he said.

“Men need to see their doctor every 12 months.

“Ask for a PSA; if they won’t give you one, go and find another doctor.”

PSA is the first line test to check for a man’s risk of prostate cancer; it measures the level of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in the blood. 

Having been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009, Parkin said he knew he was at risk because of his family’s medical history.

“I diligently had PSAs and got it (the cancer) in time,” he said.

“Women are so good at providing awareness on breast checks.

“Next year more men will die of prostate cancer than women of breast cancer. I’m a survivor but only because of surveillance and having parents who talked about it.

“I’m living a normal life as a result of that.”

Parkin addressed more than 60 men at the Show Your Colours Lunch at the Albury Club on Thursday.

He was part of talks with AFL football boss Steve Hocking this year to consider AFL rule changes.

He said rule changes might include increasing the goal square and reducing rotations.

“There have been 78 changes to the rules in the 58 years I’ve been involved,” he said.

“They’ve all made the game better to watch and safer for participants and the umpires.”

Parkin was a tough back-pocket player who played 211 matches for the Hawthorn Football Club from 1961 to 1974.

He won the Best and Fairest award for Hawthorn in 1965, and was captain of the club from 1969-1973.

The Albury Club president David Bruce said money raised on Thursday would go to the Border-based Prostate Cancer Support Group.