Western Australian football was dominated in the mid sixties by three of the best onballers to pull on a boot: Barry Cable, Billy Walker, and Keith Doncon. But in 1967 it was a five foot eleven rover from Claremont who took the spotlight from the three of them. That was the year John Parkinson tied with Walker for the Sandover Medal, won the Channel Seven and 6PR best player awards, and was voted Claremont's fairest and best. Playing in a bottom four side, it was a meritorious achievement. “I hadn't really taken my football seriously until the end of the previous season,” Parkinson recalled. “I finished just behind John McIntosh for Claremont's award in 1966, and thought: “This bloke's All Australian, and I've got pretty close to him, I just need to improve a couple of rungs and I might end up a half decent player.” Parkinson put in a heavy schedule on the track between seasons, working hard on his fitness, and reaped the ultimate rewards. The voting for the Sandover really came down to the wire in the last game of the qualifying rounds at a flooded Bassendean Oval, when Swans hosted Claremont. “It was a quagmire, there were scrimmages throughout the match,” John recalled. “At one stage I had my guernsey ripped off, with fights going on around me. Umpire Ray Montgomery sidled up with the words: “settle down, Buzz, it might cost you.” It turned out to be a nailbiting medal count, with the Swans-Claremont clash determining the result.Nicknamed “Buzz” after a schoolteacher at Scotch College, Gerry “Buzz” Parkinson, John learnt most of his football at Scotch under legendary mentors Johnny Leonard and Austin Robertson, snr. Parkinson played several thirds games with Claremont in late 1962, as a seventeen year old, making his league debut in 1963 against East Perth. “John O'Connell was looking out for me,” he recalls. “Every time he got the ball he tried to get it to me. Second rover to Les Mumme, I spent most of my time in a forward pocket, you needed a crowbar to get Les off the ball.” Making acquaintances with Royals tough man, Mal Atwell was a frightening experience for the youngster. “I recall running hell for leather at the ball, trying to impress,  then came the imposing sight of a toothless, head down, Atwell at a hundred miles an hour on a direct collision course like a freight train. Fearing the worst but committed for the inevitable, the collision sent me sailing through the air. At eighteen you are able to bounce up again.”In 1964, Parkinson was in the unique situation of competing for a roving spot in the Tigers league side with his thirds coach, ex Hawthorn player, Jeff  Wilson. It was Conway’s first year at the helm of the league side, and the unveiling of the league squad saw John’s name in pencil at the bottom. Breaking into the side for the last twelve games of the season, he sat on the bench for four weeks in a row before becoming second string rover to Mumme. “The Professor” (Conway)was outstanding, he motivated us, taught us how to play, and he was a role model for me, both in roving and the forward line. He was one of the best exponents of both as a player himself.”It was a memorable year for the cellar dwellars of 1963.Scraping into the four in the final qualifying round, the Tigers won the first semi final against Subiaco by twelve points, beat Perth by nine in the preliminary final, and faced the highly favoured East Fremantle in the grand final. Conway sprang a surprise pre match by dropping back pocket player Ian Aitken and playing three rovers...Mumme, Parkinson, and Wilson, with two of them in the forward pockets.  The ploy had an immediate effect when Wayne Harvey hit Parkinson on the chest thirty metres out from goal, with the goal a formality from the sharpshooter. John recalls: “I was feeling pretty chuffed about it, but the aura was shortlived. The ball was still on it’s way back to Ray Montgomery in the middle when I got flattened by East Fremantle defender Frank Coulson, with the rejoinder: “Don’t do that to me again!”Parkinson ended the game as he started it, sending a big punt down Ian Brewer’s throat with three minutes left, putting the Tigers in front after looking a lost cause only minutes before. No one celebrated the premiership more than stalwart Kevin Clune, who was playing in his two hundredth game. “Kevin was an inspiration to all of us,” said John. “At thirty he would train with a plastic raincoat over his tracksuit, doing lap after lap. He toiled hard all week on building sites, from five am to seven pm, I know, because I worked with him for a while.  On a cold day, Kev responded well to a nip of sherry in a brown paper bag  on the bench.” John Parkinson was selected in the State side for the Victoria clash in Melbourne in June, 1967, but was the twenty first man, with Cable, Walker, and Doncon sharing roving duties. The game against South Australia later in the year saw Parkinson added to the side, forming a formidable on ball quartet. It was in 1967 that his signature appeared on a North Melbourne form four, the first of many West Australians signed by Ron Joseph. The pressures of a new business with team mate Lindsay Carroll and enticements from Claremont saw Parkinson temporarily stay put. But the offers continued, and in 1971 he moved to Collingwood. “It was the wrong choice,” he admits. “I listened to the club manager instead of the coach. Ron Barassi(Carlton) impressed me but I chose the Pies, and found the going tough under Bobby Rose. Bobby seemed to have a problem with imports, who were often getting paid more than he had been as a champion player, and I think he resented that. It took me six weeks to get into the side, then in my third game against Geelong, I broke a shoulder. We came back home the following year.”John rates the 1972 Claremont side under Verdun Howell as the best he played with. “We had a side chockfull of talent, with blokes like Denis Marshall, Graham Moss, Bruce Duperouzel, Russell Reynolds, etc, and we went through the season with the loss of only two games, but East were too good in the grand final.” Halfway through 1973, at the age of twenty eight, after a hundred and fifty six league games for the Tigers, Parkinson surprised the club and supporters by announcing his retirement. “I always wanted to get out before I was too old,” he explained. In 1976, John coached Mosman Park in the Sunday League, before beginning a campaign to master the Cottesloe golf course.  “Long way to go,” he laughed. On a sixteen handicap, John has served as captain and president of the club. His son Paul played football at University, while daughter Nikki married former Claremont player and State cricketer Ian Brayshaw’s son, Robbie. Of all his quality opponents, Parkinson rated Doncon highest, with Moss “wonderful to rove to,” Marshall “the ability to  mark, kick, and win the ball,” and the exuberance  and inspiration of  Clune being the best of many great memories of team mates.  Included in the 1964 reminiscences are the smashed point post in the preliminary final, a result of a Wayne “Boomer” Harvey charge. The remains of the post still grace the clubrooms.An importer and wholesaler, John has sold his business to a national company, but still holds a seat on the board. He  follows the Tigers fortunes, and was disappointed with their narrow loss in last season’s grand final, while happy with the club’s resurgence. “The Professor,” Jimmy Conway, referred to John Parkinson as a deft user of the ball. He was a master of the art of kicking goals from any angle on either foot, and headed Claremont’s goalkicking list on three occasions on the way to a career total of two hundred and thirty eight goals.  In what was undoubtedly the vintage era for rovers, he was one of the best.