Marcelle Parkes

BIOGRAPHY

Black Fern #203

When Marcelle Parkes was selected for the Black Ferns test series against Australia in August 2018 seasoned sports journalist Marc Hinton wrote on Stuff:

Marcelle Parkes embodies the new generation of Black Ferns players. That is to say she is young, talented, multi-dimensional, and only too happy to jump on the rugby bandwagon.

A New Zealand age group netball and softball representative, Parkes started playing Sevens in 2015 to keep fit in the summer.

“All throughout college I would say “there’s no way I'm playing rugby, ever” but things changed. I first got into rugby when I moved to Wellington East Girls College in year 12 and one of my best mates Georgia Broughton, from the MSP club told me to come along and try out Sevens. Her dad [former Wellington and Maori All Black player] Norm was our coach.”

Parkes’ natural athleticism was tailor-made for Sevens, and when she first featured for Wellington at the National Sevens in January 2018 she was immediately earmarked for greater things. Selected in a New Zealand development squad from that tournament, she was encouraged to play the full version of the game to improve her Sevens.

On May 22, 2018 the first ever group of 28 players awarded professional contracts for the Black Ferns was announced. The landmark arrangement included a guaranteed retainer, assembly fees and a range of other benefits. Parkes was one of two Wellington players selected, along with Dhys Faleafaga.

Four days later she made her senior club debut for Marist St Pats against an Oreintal-Rongotai side featuring a dozen Wellington Pride representatives. Parkes played centre and scored a try (Georgia Broughton did too) in a 22-36 defeat.

In her first Black Ferns camp just before August there would be another surprise:

“We were told to get into our positions, so I walked out to centre and [coach] Glenn Moore looks at me and goes ‘no, no you're a flanker’ and I’m thinking I don’t even know what flanker is!”

However, Parkes made enough of an impression to be picked for the Australian series - only to be ruled out with injury. She would have to wait until November for her debut, coming off the bench in a 14-0 success over Six Nations champions France in drizzly Toulon. It was the first time since 2008 (97 matches) France had been held scoreless.

The investment in Parkes really started to pay dividends in the 2019 Super Series triumph in San Diego. She featured for 93 minutes in total replacing skipper and role model Les Ketu (née Elder) in the matches against Canada and France, then giving an honest account of herself starting opposite the vastly experienced French star Céline Ferer.

Parkes was set to take her place in the August series against Australia but unfortunately dislocated her shoulder in a club match ruling her out for eight months of surgery and recovery.

She regained her footing in 2020, featuring in all of Wellington’s five Farah Palmer Cup matches. In November she was a part of the Black Ferns trial starting for the Possibles in their narrow loss to the Probables.

In 2021 she transferred to Canterbury and helped extend the red and blacks winning streak from 2018 to 27 matches. In her first Farah Palmer Cup final, Waikato were narrow 22-20 winners.

Parkes’ partner is Hurricanes prop Xavier Numia.

Profile by Adam Julian