How three remarkable role models are shaping Shanice's story

In the latest instalment in our special 'Telstra Hersday' series on the stars of the women's game, pan66.com talks to two-time premiership winner Shanice Parker about the women who have helped shape her life and guide her on the path to the top of her chosen field.

 

Sitting in the Woolworths carpark waiting for her click and collect order, Shanice Parker laughs when we ask her how she handles all the moving parts in her hectic lifestyle.

A Newcastle Knights centre, youth worker, university student and mother to two-year-old Jakari, the 26-year-old Perth girl is understandably pretty hard to get a hold of. 

The two-time premiership winner says her ability to tackle things head on, give everything her all and still take time to care for others, has been passed on from three very special female role models.

“I have three different kinds of women in my life that have helped make me the person I am - that’s my mum, my auntie and my nanna,” Parker told pan66.com as part of the 'Telstra Hersday' series.

“My mum was definitely the one that instilled the tough love, resilient part of me, particularly with footy. She would only take me to rugby league as a kid, that was her thing.

“My nanna was the work ethic and juggling everything. She would take me to basketball, athletics and help me get to all the other sports I loved. 

“Then my auntie gave me that nurturing, motherly, mentor side, which not only represents how I am with my son but also how I like to be around the younger players. 

“I grew up playing rugby league. It was all I knew, watching my mum and my auntie play and even my nana, she used to jump on and fill in a wing spot sometimes.

“Those three women were really pivotal to me and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them.”

Parker was just two years old when her mum Danielle made her Jillaroos debut in the 2000 World Cup and is well aware of the legacy she left behind to make the women’s game what it is today. 

When the NSW Sky Blues representative reflects on the sacrifice and dedication it has taken to pursue her rugby league dream, she is often humbled by the idea of her mum selling raffle tickets at the local pub to get the Jillaroos to England.

"At the time, it wasn’t a career option so my mum had to work so hard to get over there to represent her country in the World Cup but it was just her love for the game that was enough," Parker said.

“I can't imagine how hard it would have been and the sacrifices she made back then.

They were selling meat raffles at the pub every second night and I think sometimes we forget where we’ve come from, and it’s those pioneers who got us to where we are today

Shanice Parker

“I think it’s really important that we acknowledge what they sacrificed for us to be here today because I know my mum would kill to still be playing and experience the professionalism of the NRLW.”

Now she's a mum herself, Parker said she has a newfound appreciation for the years looking after her siblings on the sideline while her mum paved the way for women’s rugby league. 

Her mum Danielle, a RLWA Past Players Hall of Fame Inductee, went on to play football in Western Australia into her mid-40s and the Knights strike weapon said she can now understand the new strength you feel when you first take the field as a mother.

“My pregnancy wasn’t planned so at the start it did shake me up a bit particularly because at that time, I was playing some good footy and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen post baby,” she said.

“But like many other women in sport, we’re still semi-professional so a lot of us juggle being a parent with studying and working as well. 

“Being a mother has reignited my fire and my purpose in the game. Before I had Jakari, when I would walk out onto the field I would worry about things like game plans and my prep but now I just go out there and know that no matter what I do, he will be proud and he’ll be able to look back when he’s older and think, 'man, my mum was cool'.

“It’s awesome I can be a role model for him in this space, particularly in such a traditionally male-dominated sport.”

Having represented her mum every time she stepped foot on the rugby league field, Parker said the opportunity to represent her dad’s heritage came as an important stepping stone in her journey of self-discovery.

Parker always knew she was Māori and her dad was from New Zealand but didn’t have the chance to put together the pieces of her story until her teenage years. 

“I didn’t know my biological father until quite late in my life and that was purely just a technology thing and he didn’t know,” she said.

“My mum had told me he was from New Zealand and he was Māori and I did always feel a connection to that culture. 

“It was daunting to announce to my mum that I was going to pledge my allegiance to New Zealand but she was happy for me and understood that whenever I go into the Māori and Kiwi space I just feel at home. 

“So it was really nice to have her support through that journey, particularly as a mum because a lot of what I do now is for him.

“And my son, he is Māori and his father’s Aboriginal so he’s got some of the two strongest cultures in the world, which I think is amazing. 

“I missed out on so much of that self-identity and learning about myself and my Māori culture that I really want to highlight that through him as well. 

“Representing the Māori All Stars after I had him, stepping out onto that pitch in Townsville and being part of a showcase of the two amazing cultures which are both a part of my son was so special.”

Deep into the NRLW season with the Knights chasing a threepeat, Parker has never been busier, but she is adamant she wouldn’t change it for the world.

“Honestly, I do feel like I am stretched for time 24/7, but that’s just how it is at the moment,” she said.

“I know it’s only temporary, obviously I want to work towards a better version of myself off the field. So that’s why I work and I study as well. 

“I love footy, I love what I do and I know there’s only a short period of your life that you can do all of these things... and hopefully the work ethic and resilience I show now will infiltrate through to Jakari as well.”