He moved into coaching, and served as assistant coach of the
North Queensland Cowboys and the
New South Wales State of Origin team. In June 2011, Parish was appointed head coach of the
Salford City Reds in the
Super League, on a contract until the end of 2013. Parish cited "personal reasons" for leaving the club, though the
Manchester Evening News reported that he had fallen out with the club's administration, having been critical of a number of aspects of the club's management. Shortly after leaving Salford, he returned to Australia and was appointed an assistant coach of the
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, then the reigning
National Rugby League premiers. In 2013, Parish was appointed as head coach of . He coached the Samoans to a quarter-final appearance in the
2013 Rugby League World Cup. Earlier in the tournament Samoa faced
New Zealand. The Samoans were down 36–4 in the second half, until the Samoans gave 'the Kiwis' a scare scoring 20 consecutive points, getting to within 13 points of the lead with 15 minutes to go in the match. However, the 'Kiwis' scored one more try to seal the match. The Samoans won their next two games against the
Kumuls and the
French, to secure their spot in the quarterfinal where they took on Pacific rivals
Fiji. They lost, 22–4, ending their World Cup campaign. In October 2022, he named his
Samoa squad for the
2021 Rugby League World Cup. Parish led the side to the World Cup Final where they were defeated by Australia. On 10 August 2023, he announced his resignation from the Samoan Head Coaching role.
Samoa coaching record ==Personal life==