Michael Anthony Patrick Pyke (born 24 March 1984) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
retired dual-code football player, who was a professional
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
er with the
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...
.
Pyke is the first Canadian national and the first former rugby union professional to play in an
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
(AFL) premiership team, having played in the Sydney Swans 2012 premiership-winning side. Before his Australian rules football career, Pyke was a professional
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
player, having played for French
Top 14
The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...
squad
US Montauban
US Montauban ( oc, Union Esportiva Montalban) is a French rugby union club that currently competes in Rugby Pro D2, the second level of the country's professional league system. They have also competed at the top level, Top 14, in the past, most ...
and representing the
Canadian national side.
Pyke was known for his understated goal celebrations.
Early life
Pyke was born to parents Christine Peterson and Richard Pyke in
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...
.
Pyke first started playing
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
at
St. Michaels University School
St. Michaels University School (abbreviated SMUS) is an independent day and boarding school in the municipality of Saanich, the largest and most populous municipality in the Capital Regional District and on Vancouver Island. Previous headmasters i ...
in British Columbia, a school which has produced several Canadian national rugby players over the past few decades, as well as
Steve Nash
Stephen John Nash (born 7 February 1974) is a Canadian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 18 seasons in the NBA, ...
, NBA star, Hall of Fame and 2 time MVP before Mike was 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 University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...
, 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
Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh play ...
in 2004. He won his first international cap against Japan, at age 20 the same year.
In November 2006, he signed with
US Montauban
US Montauban ( oc, Union Esportiva Montalban) is a French rugby union club that currently competes in Rugby Pro D2, the second level of the country's professional league system. They have also competed at the top level, Top 14, in the past, most ...
, 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
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...
off an intercepted pass from
Dan Carter
Daniel William Carter (born 5 March 1982) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player.
Carter played for Crusaders (Super Rugby) in New Zealand and played for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He is the highest point scorer in ...
.
As a rugby player, Pyke typically played on the wing or at fullback, but was also capable of playing most other backline positions.
Switch to Australian rules football
Injuries sustained at US Montauban saw Pyke look for a career change. A friend, Matt Woodland, convinced Pyke that he had all the attributes of an Australian Rules Football player and set in motion the code switch. Pyke put together a DVD showcasing his rugby highlights which Woodland then sent to AFL player agent Michael Quinlan 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.
After viewing Pyke's credentials, the
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...
offered him a contract. On 13 August 2008, Pyke signed with the team. 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
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...
and clubs using it for the "
Irish experiment
The Irish Experiment is the popular name for the interest, primarily from VFL/AFL clubs, in bringing Irish sportspeople, particularly Gaelic footballers, to Australia to play Australian rules football professionally. The AFL's focus on Gaeli ...
", 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
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
. With his 200 cm height and 105 kg weight, he saw himself playing as a
ruckman and/or defender. Pyke was selected by the Swans as a round 4 (57th) pick in the rookie draft and added to the team's list.
Australian rules football career
Pyke made an impressive debut in the
NAB Cup
In the Australian Football League (AFL), previously the Victorian Football League (VFL), the pre-season competition, known during its history by a variety of sponsored names and most recently as the NAB Cup, was an annual Australian rules footba ...
match against
Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...
. His performance rucking against premiership ruckmen
Dean Brogan
Dean Scott Brogan (born 14 December 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club and Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently serving a ...
and
Brendon Lade
Brendon Lade (born 10 July 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently a senior assistant coach with the Western Bulldogs Football Club.
AFL care ...
earned him early favouritism to take the secondary ruckman role, supporting premiership ruckman
Darren Jolly
Darren Jolly (born 6 November 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club, the Sydney Swans and the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is best known fo ...
and make his AFL premiership season debut in the Swans' opening match against St Kilda.
Despite a solid performance in his debut, Pyke's conversion was criticized by some AFL commentators, most notably
Brian Taylor, who described the experiment in 2009 as a "joke" and described him as the worst player in the AFL.
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
Jesse White taking the second ruck spot. In the following rounds, Pyke played for the Swans' reserves side in the
AFL Canberra
AFL Canberra is the name of the local governing body for and premier competition of Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory (and the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales).
It acts as an umbrella to several competitions be ...
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
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...
. 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.
By Round 14, 2010, Pyke finally managed his first senior goal, again against Richmond.
In August 2010 Pyke was given a new two-year contract with the Sydney Swans.
Swans' coach
Paul Roos praised Pyke, saying he had 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.
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
Dennis Carroll (born 7 November 1960) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Sydney Swans in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He was the last South Melbourne player to retire for Sydney.
From Ganmain, a small town o ...
Trophy for Most Improved Player.
In the 2011 season, Pyke played only two games before an ongoing quad muscle injury kept him off the senior side for the rest of the season.
After missing selection for round one of the 2012 season, Pyke injured his posterior cruciate ligament playing in the reserves. He made his return in Round 8, 2012, to a Sydney Swans starting side destined to win the Grand Final. The Swans added his blog, "Open Pyke", to their website in June 2012 and his goal against the West Coast Eagles was featured as the SwansTV Play of the Day for Round 16. In Round 21 Pyke scored a career-high three goals against the Western Bulldogs.
With the Sydney Swans' win in the 2012 Grand Final on 29 September 2012, Pyke became the first Canadian to play in an AFL premiership winning team. When Swans coach
John Longmire
John Longmire (born 31 December 1970) is the current coach of the Sydney Swans. As a player, he represented the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1999.
Early years
Longmire was born in Corowa, ...
substituted primary ruckman
Shane Mumford
Shane Mumford (born 5 July 1986) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who most recently played for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He has also previously played for the Geelong Football ...
, suffering from a sore hamstring, out of the game in the fourth term, Pyke was left to handle the ruck duties alone. He was recognised as playing an important role in the Swans' win. He was credited with 16 disposals, a career high, and three contested marks, more than anyone else on the field except Hawthorn star
Lance Franklin
Lance Franklin (born 30 January 1987), also known as Buddy Franklin, is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 20 ...
, who took four.
The Swans signed Pyke to another two-year contract in 2012, and he played in all 25 games for the Swans' 2013 season. He took 52 contested marks, more than any player in the competition except
Travis Cloke
Travis Cloke (born 5 March 1987) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club and in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Cloke was drafted under the father-son rule by Collingwood in ...
,
and he was the Swans' fourth-leading goal kicker with 28. Pyke's success on the field led former Sydney coach Paul Roos to hold him out as a contender for the
2013 All-Australian team
The 2013 All-Australian team represents the best performed Australian Football League (AFL) players during the 2013 season. It was announced on 16 September as a complete Australian rules football team of 22 players. The team is honorary and does ...
. It was to be his best season.
Pre-season surgery and a hamstring injury hampered Pyke during the 2014 season. He played in 19 games, including the Swans' three finals matches. He had a career-best 53 hitouts in Round 17 against Carlton, but his best outing was arguably in Round 19 against Essendon when he had 49 hitouts, three contested marks, six tackles and a goal.
[AFL Match Statistics at afl.com.au](_blank)
/ref> On 23 September 2014, it was announced that Pyke had signed another contract to remain with the Swans until the end of 2016.
After a good first half of the 2015 season, in which he averaged 33 hitouts a game, knee problems caused Pyke's form to drop off. He missed four games and averaged fewer than 18 hitouts per game over the last half of the season and the finals. His season overall was characterised as "below par but serviceable" by the Swans.
On 15 September 2015 Pyke, who had recently earned a master's degree in Commerce (Finance) from the University of Sydney, was awarded the AFL Players Association's Education and Training Excellence Award "for his outstanding commitment to his Masters in Commerce and career development."
On 16 October 2015, Pyke announced his retirement from the AFL in typically understated fashion by posting a photo on Twitter of his boots hanging up inside his locker at the SCG. "I got to the point where I didn't think I had any more improvement left in me and that's when you know to step aside and let the younger players come through," he said of his decision.
Statistics
:
, - style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
,
, 38 , , 8 , , 0 , , 1 , , 8 , , 39 , , 47 , , 3 , , 12 , , 98 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 1.0 , , 4.9 , , 5.9 , , 0.4 , , 1.5 , , 12.3
, -
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
,
, 38 , , 18 , , 3 , , 2 , , 49 , , 86 , , 135 , , 43 , , 55 , , 292 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 2.7 , , 4.8 , , 7.5 , , 2.4 , , 3.1 , , 16.2
, - style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
,
, 38 , , 2 , , 2 , , 0 , , 8 , , 7 , , 15 , , 4 , , 6 , , 27 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.0 , , 3.5 , , 7.5 , , 2.0 , , 3.0 , , 13.5
, -
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
,
, 38 , , 18 , , 8 , , 8 , , 70 , , 112 , , 182 , , 59 , , 48 , , 384 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 3.9 , , 6.2 , , 10.1 , , 3.3 , , 2.7 , , 21.3
, - style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
,
, 38 , , 25 , , 28 , , 8 , , 123 , , 153 , , 276 , , 89 , , 53 , , 546 , , 1.1 , , 0.3 , , 4.9 , , 6.1 , , 11.0 , , 3.6 , , 2.1 , , 21.8
, -
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
,
, 38 , , 19 , , 3 , , 6 , , 88 , , 93 , , 181 , , 42 , , 45 , , 525 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 4.6 , , 4.9 , , 9.5 , , 2.2 , , 2.4 , , 27.6
, - style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
,
, 38 , , 20 , , 4 , , 4 , , 60 , , 104 , , 164 , , 39 , , 49 , , 519 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 3.0 , , 5.2 , , 8.2 , , 2.0 , , 2.5 , , 26.0
, - class="sortbottom"
! colspan=3, Career
! 110
! 48
! 29
! 406
! 594
! 1000
! 279
! 268
! 2391
! 0.4
! 0.3
! 3.7
! 5.4
! 9.1
! 2.5
! 2.4
! 21.7
Personal life
Pyke is married to Florencia Bonet, and the couple had their first child in March 2013.
Pyke became an Australian citizen on 26 January 2014, Australia Day. He earned a master's degree in Commerce (Finance) from the University of Sydney in 2015.
After retiring from the AFL, Pyke went to work for investment bank Moelis & Company
Moelis & Company is a global investment bank that provides financial advisory services to corporations, governments, and financial sponsors. The firm advises on strategic decisions such as mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restruct ...
. He said of his new job, "it's not as much pressure as the first bounce at a football game and having a 100-kg-plus opponent bearing down on you."
References
External links
*
*
European profile at www.ercrugby.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyke, Michael
1984 births
Canadian rugby union players
Footballers who switched code
Living people
Rugby union wings
Sportspeople from Victoria, British Columbia
Sydney Swans players
Sydney Swans Premiership players
Canada international rugby union players
Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Australia
Canadian players of Australian rules football
VFL/AFL players born outside Australia
One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players