Luke Parker’s AFL career has been smooth sailing from pretty much day one. That’s not to dismiss all the little challenges that pop up routinely in professional sport, the unspoken battles that take place behind closed doors that the rest of the world never hears about. But since making his debut for the Sydney Swans in mid-2011, he has barely missed a game, except for a couple of minor injuries here and there and a single, one-match suspension he served last year.
That was all before thisyear. A bit like buses, so many bigger challenges have come at once for Parker in 2024: the broken arm he suffered in pre-season, the most significant physical ailment he has ever had to deal with as a footballer, and then his weeks-long battle to break into Sydney’s best 23 once he’d recovered. You might …