- Mike Pyke
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Mike Pyke Date of birth 24 March 1984 Place of birth Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Height 200 cm (6 ft 7 in) Weight 104 kg (16 st 5 lb) Rugby union career Playing career Position Fullback Professional / senior clubs Years Club / team Caps (points) 2004–2006
2006–2008Edinburgh
US Montauban19 (5) National team(s) Years Club / team Caps (points) 2004–2008 Canada 20 (35) Mike Pyke Personal information Full name Mike Pyke Date of birth 24 March 1984 Place of birth Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Height/Weight 200cm / 104kg Position(s) Ruckman Club information Current club Sydney Number 38 Playing career1 Years Club Games (Goals) 2009– Sydney 28 (5) 1 Playing statistics to end of Round 12 2011 season .- "Mike Pike" redirects here. For the football referee, see Mike Pike (referee).
Michael Anthony Patrick Pyke (born March 24, 1984 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian dual-code football player.
He is best known in his homeland as a rugby union player, who played for Canada's national side and French Top 14 squad US Montauban.
Pyke is currently a professional Australian rules footballer with the Sydney Swans.
Contents
Early life
Pyke was born to parents Christine Peterson and Richard Pyke in Victoria, British Columbia
Pyke first started playing basketball, soccer and ice hockey, at St. Michaels University School in British Columbia, a school which has produced several Canadian national rugby players over the past few decades, before being convinced to focus on rugby.
As an amateur he was a member of various rugby teams based in Victoria, British Columbia, including the Pacific Sport rugby academy – where he led the B.C. Premier League with 210 points in 2003–2004, the University of Victoria, the Castaway Wanderers, and the Vancouver Island Crimson Tide.
Professional Rugby and International Representative Career
Pyke began his professional rugby career at the Edinburgh Gunners in 2004. He won his first international cap against Japan, at age 20 the same year.
In November 2006, he signed with US Montauban, where he played alongside Canadian teammate Ryan Smith.
As of August, 2007, he has 17 caps for the national side, scoring 30 points in the process.
Pyke achieved fame in 2007 for running the length of the field and scoring a try against the New Zealand All Blacks off an intercepted pass from Dan Carter.
As a rugby player, Pyke typically plays on the wing or at full back, but is also capable of playing most other back line positions.
Injuries sustained at US Montauban saw Pyke look for a career change. A friend, Matt Woodland, who had taught him how to kick the Australian rules football convinced Pyke that he had all the attributes of an AFL great and set in motion the code switch. Pyke put together a DVD showcasing his rugby highlights which Woodland then sent onto AFL player agent Michael Quinlan[1] from Top Dog Management. Quinlan was immediately convinced of the possibilities and after speaking with Pyke several times began dialogue with the Sydney Swans, a team known for unconventional recruitment[citation needed] .
Switch to Australian rules football
After viewing Pyke's credentials, the Sydney Swans offered him a contract. On 13 August 2008, Pyke signed with the club. The Swans had exploited a new draft rule initially designed to provide a pathway for amateur Australian Rules players outside of Australia to a professional AFL career. Although there were rules in place to protect the Gaelic Athletic Association and clubs using it for the Irish experiment, the new AFL draft rule did not preclude the recruitment of talented athletes from other sports such as rugby. As a result, Pyke became the first international sportsperson in VFL/AFL history drafted from a non-Irish sport.
Pyke believed his basketball and rugby background would help him adapt to Australian rules football with his 200 cm height and 105 kg weight, he saw himself playing as a ruckman and or defender.[2] Pyke was selected by the Swans as a round 4 (57th) pick in the rookie draft and added to the team's list.[3] In late 2008, AFL player manager Ricky Nixon (who had set up recruiting networks in Ireland), commented publicly that he thought the Swans were "wasting their time" with Pyke and that the venture would not be successful.[4]
Pyke made an impressive debut in the NAB Cup match against the Port Adelaide Power. His performance rucking against premiership ruckmen Dean Brogan and Brendon Lade earned him early favouritism to take the secondary ruckman role, supporting premiership ruckman Darren Jolly and make his AFL premiership season debut in the Swans opening match against St Kilda.[5]
He was elevated to the Senior List shortly before the first round, leading to speculation he would indeed be chosen, but he was announced on the emergency list for the squad, with White taking the second ruck spot. In the following rounds Pyke played for the Swans reserves side in the AFL Canberra league. After a 20 possession strong performance with the reserves including some strong contested marks and goals, the club raised the possibility that Pyke's debut would take place in the coming weeks.
Pyke finally got his opportunity with the Swans when selected to play in round 6 of the AFL premiership competition against the Richmond Tigers. In 50 minutes of game time, he accumulated 4 handballs, 1 mark, 1 tackle and 11 hit-outs. While his debut wasn't sensational, he showed enough confident passages of play to be considered as a back-up ruckman for the Swans.[6]
By Round 14, 2010, Pyke finally managed his first senior goal – again against Richmond. In his 16th game, Pyke has been playing mainly as a back-up ruckman with limited success in a Swans side hampered by injury. Whilst his first goal gave the Swans a match high 33 point lead; the Richmond Tigers were to storm home to claim the lead late and hold on for a 4 point victory.[7]
In August 2010 Pyke was given a new 2 year contract with the Sydney Swans.[8]
Swans coach Paul Roos praised Pyke, saying he has developed into a genuine AFL ruckman. “This year, if someone came to their first game, you'd have to point out that this is a Canadian rugby player now playing AFL football, and that's the biggest compliment you can give Pykey,’’ Roos said.[9]
The success of Pyke's move to the AFL was further cemented at the 2010 Sydney Swans Club Champion presentation, where Pyke was awarded the "Dennis Carroll Trophy for Most Improved Player".
References
- ^ http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24177765-23211,00.html
- ^ Swans sign 24-year-old Canadian rugby player from news.com.au
- ^ "PSD and Rookie Draft: Pick by pick". 2008-12-16. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,24807266-19742,00.html.
- ^ http://www.realfooty.com.au/articles/2009/04/30/1240982345845.html
- ^ Cowley, Michael (2009-02-23). "Pyke in right position to grab ruck spot". Real Footy. http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/pyke-in-right-position-to-grab-ruck-spot/2009/02/22/1235237452236.html. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
- ^ http://www.worldfootynews.com/article.php/20090506221715706
- ^ Lane, Samantha (2010-07-05). "Tigers fight their way off the bottom". The Age (Melbourne). http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/tigers-fight-their-way-off-the-bottom-20100704-zvsi.html.
- ^ http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/swans-give-canadian-mike-pyke-two-more-years/story-e6frf9jf-1225901020388/
- ^ http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=0-7259-0-0-0&sID=154776&articleID=12880109&news_task=DETAIL
External links
- Mike Pyke's profile on the Official AFL Website of the Sydney Swans Football Club
- scrum.com Statistics
- European Profile at www.ercrugby.com
Sydney Swans – current squad 1 Seaby · 2 Shaw · 3 McVeigh (c) · 4 Hannebery · 5 O'Keefe · 7 Meredith · 8 Dennis-Lane · 9 Malceski · 11 Lamb · 12 Kennedy · 13 Everitt · 14 Bird · 15 Jack · 16 Rohan · 18 White · 20 Reid · 21 McGlynn · 24 Bolton · 25 Richards · 26 Parker · 26 Spangher · 28 McNeil* · 29 Mattner · 30 Roberts-Thomson · 32 Jetta · 33 Moore · 34 Johnson · 37 Goodes (c) · 38 Pyke · 39 Grundy · 40 Smith · 41 Mumford · 43 Kruger* · 45 Gordon · tbd Armstrong · tbd Mitchell · tbd Morton · tbd Walsh
Coach: Longmire
* denotes Rookie Listed players
2010 AFL Draft First round 1. David Swallow • 2. Harley Bennell • 3. Sam Day • 4. Andrew Gaff • 5. Jared Polec • 6. Reece Conca • 7. Josh Caddy • 8. Dyson Heppell • 9. Dion Prestia • 10. Daniel Gorringe • 11. Tom Lynch • 12. Lucas Cook • 13. Seb Tape • 14. Brodie Smith • 15. Billie Smedts • 16. Ben Jacobs • 17. Shaun Atley • 18. Matthew Watson • 19. Isaac Smith • 20. Jayden Pitt • 21. Jed Lamb • 22. Mitch Wallis (F/S) • 23. Cameron Guthrie • 24. Jamie Cripps • 25. Patrick Karnezis • 26. Jack Darling (PP) • 27. Kieran Harper (Comp)Second round 28. Ryan Lester • 29. Scott Lycett • 30. Jake Batchelor • 31. Ariel Steinberg • 32. Josh Green • 33. Jeremy Howe • 34. Patrick McCarthy • 35. Ben Newton • 36. Aaron Young • 37. George Horlin-Smith • 38. Mitchell Hallahan • 39. Jeremy Taylor • 40. Luke Parker • 41. Tom Liberatore (F/S) • 42. Luke Mitchell • 43. Sam Crocker • 44. Viv MichieThird round 45. Alex Fasolo • 46. Daniel Farmer • 47. Brad Helbig • 48. Alex Browne • 49. Jacob Gillbee • 50. Troy Davis • 51. Dean MacDonald • 52. Cameron O'Shea • 53. Tom McDonald • 54. Jordan Schroder • 55. Angus Litherland • 56. Josh Mellington • 57. Alex Johnson • 58. James Podsiadly (RP) • 59. Tom Ledger • 60. Kirk UgleFourth round 61. Jarryd Lyons • 62. Jacob Brennan (F/S) • 63. Tom Derickx • 64. Luke Davis • 65. Claye Beams (RP) • 66. Paul Puopolo • 67.Andrew McInnes • 68. Cameron Hitchcock (RP) • 69. Cameron Delaney • 70. Nick Duigan • 71. Ben Mabon • 73. Matthew Spangher • 74. Jayden Schofield • 75. Arryn Siposs • 76. Paul SeedsmanFifth round 77. Trent Stubbs • 78. Lewis Stevenson (RP) • 80. Michael Ross • 81. Jordie McKenzie (RP) • 82. Ricky Henderson (RP) • 83. Danny Meyer (RP) • 84. Callum Wilson (RP) • 85. Jeff Garlett (RP) • 87. Michael Barlow (RP) • 88. Zephaniah Skinner • 89. Tom Hill • 90. Ryan Gamble • 91. Jarryd Blair (RP)Sixth round 92. Lachlan Keeffe (RP) • 93. Andrew Strijk (RP) • 94. David Gourdis (RP) • 96. Jake Spencer (RP) • 97. Matthew Jaensch (RP) • 98. Ben Speight (RP) • 99. David Ellard (RP) • 100. Matt de Boer (RP) • 101. Mike Pyke (RP) • 102. Brodie Moles (RP) • 103. Dean Polo • 104. Tom Young (RP)Sixth round 106. Ben Howlett (RP) • 107. Luke Thompson (RP) • 108. Simon White (RP) • 109. Alex Silvagni (RP) • 110. Andrew Hooper (RP) • 111. Tom Simpkin (RP) • 112. Jay van Berlo (RP)RP = Rookie PromotionCanada squad – 2007 Rugby World Cup Forwards Backs Culpan · Daypuck · Fairhurst · Mensah-Coker · Monro · Pritchard · Pyke · Smith · Spicer · Trenkel · van der Merwe · Weingart · WilliamsCoach Categories:- 1984 births
- Canadian rugby union players
- Footballers who switched code
- Living people
- Rugby union wings
- Sportspeople from British Columbia
- People from Victoria, British Columbia
- Sydney Swans players
- Canada international rugby union players
- VFL/AFL players born outside of Australia
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