Mike Pyke and AFL's uneasy relationship with the rah-rahs

Gotta admit, i googled a bit, but i had a fair idea of his background, and i actually agree that Martin was a very unique player as well !! :)

rugby is not more easier on the body. it is a lot harder on the body.

If he's a top draw international athlete what is he doing in Sydney and probably on less than 200 a year.Doesn't make sense.

If you look at the skill set, your statement doesn't make sense - aussie rules players run as far as soccer players (or further), while catching, handpassing, kicking, bumping, shepherding and tackling, which is more than a rugby set of skills (I've played rugby, aussie rules and soccer, among others, so have a reasonable feel for this). Does an offside rule really make a game that much harder to play? Plus, Mike Pyke certainly doesn't make it look easy... in fact, while I admire his work ethic and guts greatly, he reminds me somewhat of a giraffe drinking at a waterhole when he's on the field! You could've chosen a better example (if there is one...).

I've played both, and Aussie Rules is the most fun I've had on the field. Rugby's a lot easier on the body though, more of a long-term sport. Rugby tackling's harder, but the ball skills are significantly easier. Apples and oranges!

You know your footy Brewski. I didnt know Don Pykes background at all. But I remember him as a quality player for sure. I'm not having a go at Mike Pyke either, but I reckon we need to get things in perspective. Martin Pike, from memory, played for four clubs, and played in premierships for two. Maybe unique in that regard.

@ Floyd, Don Pyke has a interesting background, American born, i believe his Father was a doctor, both his brothers also played cricket for SA, he played junior footy in both WA and the ACT, recruited by Claremont and then WCE , although his Father played for Perth in the WAFL. After his AFL career, coached Claremont and was on the WCE board. Extremely under rated player IMO, and IMO the best of the Pykes :) much better than Mike, and marginally better than Martin.

It should also be pointed out that Mike Pyke is by no means a 'success' just yet, and that he will never be as good as Don Pyke or Martin Pike. He's merely tall. Get your facts straight. As for the 'numerous other athletes' who have dominated at Australian Rules??!! That's just rubbish and you know it.

The Swans also boast Lewis Roberts-Thomson, another who shunned his private school breeding with the 15-man game to take up a sport which, for many among the grammar school set, remains a baffling free-for-all with more in common with netball than anything else. Claiming that for Lewis Roberts-Thomson is a bit much given his father played in the VFA for Sandringham & for the QLD state team. Following his father's example LR-T started playing when he was 14. You couldn't put him in the class of Kerien Jack who grew up knowing very little about the code before coming over.

Its great that Mike Pyke has got a flag to boast about. It should be pointed out though that Aussie Rules is not a hard game to play hence the successful transition of Pyke and numerous other athletes from other sports.

As an avid Swans supporter i like the Mike Pyke story. He is one of my favourite players at the club along with LRT. He is an honest hard grafter type of player with great fitness for a man of his size. Even his supporters know he cant kick very well. The reason he works so well isn't because of the AFL...its because of the Swans. He loves the contested ball and contested mark. His job is to be a back up ruckmen for Mumford and to go into the forward line...take a contested mark (which is he very good at) and potentially kick for goal or at least handball to a better kicker. That is his entire game plan and it works because thats what the Swans ask of him. His natural style suit their game plan. This talk of AFL vs rah rah's is nonsense. If a team can find a Pyke type player....and more importantly their game plan needs one, they should go for any athlete willing to do it. They would of got Pyke on the cheap as an unproven AFL player and he has repaid that gamble but he would be more the exception than the rule. Better to look for aggressive basketballers or super fit Gaelic Football players in my view.

Great to hear he's found a sport he loves, but you're right, not everyone fits that bill.

No doubt AFL is great to play, and has many great qualities, but it's an overstatement to say rugby is boring to play. Many people (much more people) find the opposite. It's like comparing apples and oranges. Rugby also has much to appreciate. If AFL was to die out in AUS it wouldn't have much else. This isn't to take away from AFL. More Aussie like it than rugby. And it's still exciting to see it elsewhere in the world. But other sports like baseball and NFL also get excited about their growth in AUS.

You have got to be joking the best thing about rugby is the crowd, who have to find ways to entertain themselves. Rugby is boring, plain and simple rich pratts fool themselves that it is otherwise! At least AFL is an entertaining game which requires the endurance of a marathon runner (4 Qtrs averaging 30 min, with most players running 15 k per game). The ability to use foot and hand skills with a high degree of accuracy at least 30 meters from you (thugby players pass the ball 3-5 meters) and the the awareness to read the play in a 360 degree manner (thugby only needs one direction in front of you). So the fact its played in EVERY state of Australia and not to the same level elsewhere ( AF is played in many countries now on a amature basis see World Footy News), does not detract from it being better, just means the rest of the world is missing out!

DC, They are ahead of you. And at least one of the US draft camp basketballers will end up on a list.

Nope. The lack of sniping is purely and simply because rugby union's position in NSW is horizontal. Port Adelaide-level administration is absolutely normal in rugby union ... and like rugby league, the occasional showpiece game makes fans feel good about how the code is doing, so they dont do any of the year-in, year-out slog to actually progress the game.

It was interesting that Pyke was feeling unfulfilled despite playing in RUWC in 2007, and playing pro in Scotland and France, and has commented about after the notion of AFL was floated, he knew he had to give it a go whilst getting ready to run on for the Rugby 7s tourney in Hong Kong for a game against England. So, he happily walked away from the whole international element and is feeling fulfilled in a pretty close knit 'club/team' environment with shared 'team' success. I guess not everyone would fit that bill - but, it's often seen as the difference between the players willing to take a pay cut to keep a squad together to try to achieve a premiership compared to those who chase the best deal they can find for themselves individually. And - I'm not going to say who is right and who is wrong. I'm just going to say that there are 3 types of people in the world, those who are good at maths and those who aren't!!

I think the bigger picture is not the relationship between RU and AFL, rather that someone from east over the Pacific in North America became a footy star!! Maybe AFL scouts should start mining North American talent. DC

he played for the edinburgh gunners in the celtic league and started two seasons for a mid table top 14 team. he wasn't israel dagg, but he was a good player, obviously.

Montauban were a top 14 team when mike joined. he played two seasons there and in both of them they finished mid table of the top 14. two years after he left, they had a budget problem and were relegated as a result and sent to the third div.