Captain’s profile: Lloyd Parker

Grey High captain Lloyd Parker says his charges are eyeing a fitting swansong when they collide with Selborne on Thursday.

“It’s our last match together and we want to put in a big performance and end the season together on a high,” said Parker.

A mobile loosehead for his 1.8-metre, 95-kilogramme frame, Parker provides plenty of bulk and firepower to his pack and played Craven Week for Eastern Province this year. A modern, athletic front roer, he relishes scrum time but also excels in the tight loose.  

Under Parker’s captaincy, Grey have won 10 of their 14 matches this season, with their four losses being closely contested affairs.

Parker ranks “Beating Paul Roos on Markotter and beating the highly-rated Dale College team here at home,” among the highlights of the season.

Much of their success this season stems from Parker’s leadership abilities and vision to form a close-knit group. “I aim to get on with everyone in the team as when we are a close unit we perform better,” he says.  

Parker said he expects a typically tough encounter against what he believes will be a highly motivated Selborne side on Women’s Day. “Selborne always raise their game against us and they’ll be fired up after just losing to Dale and Queen’s in recent weeks,” he said.

Grey will be without star player Sergeal Petersen, who’s on South African Schools duty, and injured first-choice trio Siviwe Bisset, CJ Velleman and Brandon Brown.

Parker, however, believes they have adequate depth to reverse last year’s 29-21 loss.

“We have a lot of depth; guys like Jordan Turner will be playing his 20th match, so we are confident of a good result on Thursday,” said Parker.