Martin Pike (born 14 November 1972) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played in four Australian Football League (AFL) premiership sides. A tough, versatile wingman, Pike has been described as a "natural player" of the game. Highlights of his career included a premiership with the North Melbourne Football Club, three more with

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, the final AFL best-and-fairest winner with

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

in 1996, and selection in the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

South Australian State-Of-Origin side.

Early career

Pike was born in

Glenelg, South Australia Glenelg is a beach-side suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Located on the shore of Holdfast Bay in Gulf St Vincent, it has become a tourist destination due to its beach and many attractions, home to several hotels and dozens of ...

, and made his senior debut with

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as t ...

(SANFL) side Norwood in 1990. He was drafted by Melbourne Football Club with their first choice (ninth overall) in the 1992 AFL Draft. Pike made his AFL debut in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, playing eight games at centre half-back and a further 16 matches in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, including three finals. Despite his strong on-field performance, Melbourne traded Pike to

Fitzroy Football Club The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of Fitzroy, the club was a member of the V ...

at the end of 1994 due to his off-field problems with alcohol. After playing 14 games for Fitzroy in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, Pike played all 22 games in 1996, winning Fitzroy's best-and-fairest award, beating later Port Adelaide captain

Matthew Primus Matthew Richard Primus (born 12 January 1975) is a former coach of the Port Adelaide Football Club and Australian rules footballer, captain and All-Australian ruckman. He was also previously an assistant coach at the Gold Coast Football Club. ...

for the honour, making him the last best & fairest winner in the history of the club. However, ongoing financial difficulties led to the then

Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Football Club, nicknamed the Bears, was a professional Australian rules football club based in Queensland on the Gold Coast (relocated to Brisbane in 1993). The club participated in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/ ...

merging with Fitzroy and changing their name to become the Brisbane Lions. Pike was not selected as one of the eight Fitzroy players to move north to Brisbane at the end of 1996, largely due to his poor off-field reputation. In July 1996 he was found guilty of drink driving for the third time and was fined $1000, lost his licence for five years and sentenced to six months jail, but avoided having to go to jail, being able to serve the sentence at home under an intensive correction order.

North Melbourne 1997–2000

Hoping in part to capitalise in part on the bad feeling many Victorian based

supporters had about the failed merger with the North Melbourne Football Club, and about the way the deal with

Bears Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

was executed, the 1996 Premiers,

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...

, recruited a number of former Fitzroy players, including Pike, in the 1996 AFL Draft. Pike had a solid year in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

: North finished third and South Australia included him in their 1998 State of Origin squad. His work off the halfback line and on the wings generated many opportunities for the team's forwards. Pike was a member of the North Melbourne Grand Final team that lost to Adelaide Football Club in

after winning the minor premiership that year before becoming a member of the Kangaroos' premiership winning team in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, fulfilling a lifelong ambition. However, due to poor form in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, combined with discipline issues off the field (including a widely reported late arrival to a compulsory club function), North Melbourne delisted him at the end of 2000.

Brisbane Lions 2001–2005

The Brisbane Lions recruited Pike in the 2000 AFL Draft after impressing coach

Leigh Matthews Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached and the . Squat, short-legged and barrel-chested, Matthews earned the ic ...

in an interview, although Pike's reputation was poor enough for Matthews to consult his leading players before committing to the wayward footballer. Pike quickly proved himself at his fourth club, playing 22 games in 2001 as the club won its first premiership. Now with family commitments, Pike was a reformed character, with increased professionalism and none of the poor off-field behaviour that had marred his career at his previous clubs. In 2002, Brisbane won their second successive premiership with Pike playing a wide variety of roles. He again played a key role in many of the games won in 2003, including kicking three goals in the final quarter of the preliminary final against the Sydney Swans to get the team into its third successive winning grand final. The Lions reached their fourth successive grand final in 2004 but lost to Port Adelaide Football Club in the grand final. Pike was disappointed with his performance in that match, and was reportedly involved in an altercation with a club official in the early hours of the morning on return to

, the only display of the behaviour which caused him problems before signing with the Lions. Despite resulting speculation that his contract would not be renewed he accepted a one-year contract for 2005. However, Pike's season was heavily disrupted by injury and he was unable to add more than a handful of games to his career tally before announcing his retirement on 2 August 2005 with four matches remaining in the regular season.

Statistics

: , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 8 , , 0 , , 1 , , 58 , , 40 , , 98 , , 17 , , 5 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 7.3 , , 5.0 , , 12.3 , , 2.1 , , 0.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 16 , , 25 , , 16 , , 102 , , 39 , , 141 , , 49 , , 14 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , 6.4 , , 2.4 , , 8.8 , , 3.1 , , 0.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 8 , , 14 , , 10 , , 16 , , 130 , , 85 , , 215 , , 53 , , 17 , , 0.7 , , 1.1 , , 9.3 , , 6.1 , , 15.4 , , 3.8 , , 1.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1996 , style="text-align:center;", , 8 , , 22 , , 5 , , 9 , , 359 , , 125 , , 484 , , 99 , , 40 , , 0.2 , , 0.4 , , 16.3 , , 5.7 , , 22.0 , , 4.5 , , 1.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 13 , , 24 , , 6 , , 3 , , 236 , , 104 , , 340 , , 65 , , 38 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 9.8 , , 4.3 , , 14.2 , , 2.7 , , 1.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 13 , , 19 , , 7 , , 7 , , 172 , , 85 , , 257 , , 44 , , 35 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 9.1 , , 4.5 , , 13.5 , , 2.3 , , 1.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 13 , , 18 , , 0 , , 2 , , 150 , , 74 , , 224 , , 46 , , 30 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 8.3 , , 4.1 , , 12.4 , , 2.6 , , 1.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 13 , , 20 , , 6 , , 2 , , 181 , , 70 , , 251 , , 61 , , 42 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 9.1 , , 3.5 , , 12.6 , , 3.1 , , 2.1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2001 , style="text-align:center;", , 13 , , 22 , , 6 , , 8 , , 185 , , 100 , , 285 , , 75 , , 32 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 8.4 , , 4.5 , , 13.0 , , 3.4 , , 1.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2002 , style="text-align:center;", , 13 , , 25 , , 14 , , 13 , , 289 , , 135 , , 424 , , 125 , , 68 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 11.6 , , 5.4 , , 17.0 , , 5.0 , , 2.7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2003 , style="text-align:center;", , 13 , , 25 , , 17 , , 11 , , 234 , , 117 , , 351 , , 118 , , 57 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 9.4 , , 4.7 , , 14.0 , , 4.7 , , 2.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2004 , style="text-align:center;", , 13 , , 25 , , 27 , , 18 , , 222 , , 114 , , 336 , , 100 , , 40 , , 1.1 , , 0.7 , , 8.9 , , 4.6 , , 13.4 , , 4.0 , , 1.6 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2005 , style="text-align:center;", , 13 , , 9 , , 3 , , 4 , , 61 , , 33 , , 94 , , 25 , , 18 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 6.8 , , 3.7 , , 10.4 , , 2.8 , , 2.0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 247 ! 126 ! 110 ! 2379 ! 1121 ! 3500 ! 877 ! 436 ! 0.5 ! 0.4 ! 9.6 ! 4.5 ! 14.2 ! 3.6 ! 1.8

After retirement

In February 2006, the

Hastings Football Club The Hastings Football & Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Blues'', is an Australian rules football and netball club based in Hastings, Victoria. The football squad plays in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League (MPNFL) and has won 22 Seni ...

in the rural Victorian Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football Leagu
announced
that Pike had accepted an offer to coach the club for the upcoming season. He made an appearance in the 2006 AFL Legends Match. He continued as senior coach of the Hastings Football Club in 2007. He was the coach of VFL reserve side,

Northern Bullants The Preston Football Club, which trades and plays as the Northern Bullants, is a long-established Australian rules football club based in Preston that plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It plays its home games at the Preston City Ov ...

for the 2009 season. In 2010 Pike was appointed to the position of Senior Coach of the Power House Football Club in the

Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It consists of seven senior men's and women's divisions ranging from Premier to Division ...

.Nic Pavlou (President) welcomes Martin Pike to the club

References

External links

*
Brisbane Lions Martin Pike profile

Hastings Football Club – Martin Pike profile

AFL article on Pike's preparation for 2005 season

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pike, Martin 1972 births Australian rules footballers from South Australia Brisbane Lions players Brisbane Lions Premiership players Fitzroy Football Club players Living people Melbourne Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club Premiership players Norwood Football Club players Mitchell Medal winners Four-time VFL/AFL Premiership players