Parsons was hampered by injury throughout his career, playing only 74 games in ten seasons at the club, from which he kicked 179 goals.
He was also chosen in Western Australia's initial squad for the 1994 AFL Under 18 Championships, but did not make the final team.
[3] During the 1996 season, he missed ten weeks following a shoulder reconstruction, and was also hampered by an ankle injury sustained in the pre-season, playing only five games in total.
Despite playing only 11 matches, Parsons led South Fremantle's goalkicking with 25 goals, and was named "player of the future" at the club's best and fairest awards.
[3][7] Good form early in the season led to his selection in the state team that played Tasmania in June 1999, at the Sir Richard Moore Sports Complex in Kalgoorlie.
[11] Playing 18 games, Parsons kicked 65 goals during the 2002 season, winning the Bernie Naylor Medal as the competition's leading goal-kicker.
[27][28] Standing 186 centimetres (6 ft 1 in) tall, Parsons played at full forward or centre half-forward in underage matches,[1] but was considered a utility player early in his WAFL career.
[29][30][31] During the 1998 season, when Parsons was aged 21, one writer in The West Australian described him as an "exceptionally good reader of the ball" and an "excellent long right-foot kick", but criticised his pace and his defensive game.