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Meet our Football Manager, Warren Parker

Thursday, March 12, 2020 - 4:00 PM by Katie de Haer

He may have only had his feet under the desk for a little over a week, but newly appointed Football Operations Manager, Warren Parker, is firmly committed to driving East Perth’s rise up the ladder.

Parker joined East Perth from Claremont, where he had spent the past eight years in various sports administration roles, most recently, Talent Manager.

“Coming in, everyone has been really welcoming,” he said.

“There are really good people involved and there’s a good energy around here at the moment. Hopefully, I can play my part to make sure we continue to go onwards and upwards.”

Having worked his way up through the WAFL sports administration pathway, Parker believes he is now equipped to help guide East Perth into a new decade.

“I loved every minute of my time at Claremont and owe the club quite a lot for my development as a sports administrator, but I’m definitely excited for a new challenge at a new club. 

“From a selfish, personal point of view, I was looking for the next step in my career and moving from talent manager to football manager is, I guess, the next step in the WAFL pathway for a sports administrator. 

“I saw the role come up and thought, I might be ready to have a go at this.”

Part of the attraction for Parker was East Perth’s talented and developing list, which was boosted when the Royals secured Nick Robertson (Brisbane), Angus Schumacher (Carlton), Aidan Lynch (West Perth), Jake Veide (SANFL), Corey Watts (Sandringham Dragons) and Brad Fullgrabe (Swan Districts) during the summer period.

“East Perth is at a really exciting point in time,” Parker said. 

“The alignment ended a couple of years ago now and we’re getting to the point where we’re starting to fill the list with players who really want to be here. 

“We’re starting to build on what the club is all about moving forward. I think there’s a lot of opportunity for this football club to grow in the next couple of years and I was really excited for the opportunity to be part of that.”

With round one action three weeks away, Parker said the club is in the final stages of confirming its 2020 playing list. 

“We’ll roll into this practice match on the weekend, making some decisions on players and things like that before we go into the pre-season game against Swan Districts.

“There may be a few (list changes) that are made. But, as we know, a WAFL season can roll on and there might be some potential recruits that come into the group as we go.

“We’re pretty confident with the guys that have come into the club, as well as the guys that have been here for a few years now, that we’ve got a good core group of players that can build some on-field success for us this year.” 

Despite East Perth placing second-last on the WAFL ladder last season with five wins, Parker is confident the playing group is capable of building something special.

“I’ve firmly got my sights on making sure I do this job well,” he said.

“I’m entrenched in East Perth now and am hoping to build some success over the next few years with this group.”