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Mike Pyke is a professional rugby player, who represents Canada’s national side and the French Top 14 squad, US Montauban. He typically plays on the wing or at fullback, but he is capable of playing most other backline positions as well. So what’s special about him?
On 13 August 2008, Pyke signed with the Australian Football League Club, Sydney Swans, for a two-year contract. He believed his basketball and rugby background would help him adapt to Australian Rules and he saw himself as playing in the ruck and defence.
For all those people who attack AFL’s non-international outlook as being a weakness, and the game as not having any appeal outside of the ‘AFL states’, why then would an International rugby union player (200cm tall and capable of a sub 11 second 100 metres!) be the one who instigated this move, as he did via a mate in Australia who contacted a sports manager.
He then decided that the Swans were the best fit because of their experience in both international (Irish) relocation and recent code ‘converts’.
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