David Teague was appointed coach of the Carlton Football Club on August 15th, 2019, with a coaching record of five wins and four losses, replacing Brendon Bolton who only managed to secure three wins in his last year and a half at the club.
Now in 2021, Teague seems likely to face the axe with a win percentage below fifty percent. The optimism that once filled the navy-blue faithful has all but vanished as Carlton continues to toil away in the bottom half of the ladder after undertaking a five-year rebuild that is now gone into its sixth year.
It is now clear that David Teague is not the man to take the Blues to their 17th premiership which means a replacement needs to be found quickly, to take advantage of the talented list that has been built at Ikon Park. Former Adelaide Crows Coach, Don Pyke may be the answer that the club and all its supporters have been looking for.
Statistically, Don Pyke is an extremely talented coach with a win percentage of 60 percent in both the home-and-away season, and finals. Though he was unable to lead the Crows to victory in the 2017 grand final, they did finish on top of the ladder at the end of the season thanks to a percentage of 136, the highest of any team that year.
Now serving as an assistant at the Sydney Swans, Pyke’s naturally aggressive tactics are a key reason why the Sydney Swans have gone from finishing sixteenth in 2020 to competing for a spot in the top four in 2021.
In this way, he has some similarities to David Teague, in that they both have aggressive mindsets. A key difference between them, however, is that Pyke has shown how to find better success with that style. The former Eagle has won three finals from five appearances, whereas Teague is still trying to find the right balance between offence and defence, with no appearances in finals in his two and half seasons of coaching.
Appointing Pyke may be a brilliant move by the Carlton board because of his previous relationship with Teague. The 2004 John Nicholls Medallist served under Pyke as a forwards coach during the Crows finals campaigns. Pyke would therefore convey a similar message to that of Teague.
Rather than reinvent how Carlton play he may strengthen and develop their tactics and structures, bringing the best of the 2017 Crows to the Navy Blues.
(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
It wasn’t just the game plan that made Pyke a good coach though, it was also his hard edge. Something that Carlton is clearly missing as seen in Round 19 against North Melbourne, where they lost the game by 39 points and even lost the tackle count despite having 60-seven less possessions than their opposition.
This follows a trend for 2021 as Carlton has only won the tackle count four times out of their eighteen matches. Don Pyke and his harder edge would be beneficial to the Blues and help them display a ruthlessness that hasn’t been seen since their premiership years.
Possible negatives to Pyke taking over as coach of the Navy Blues include his overly aggressive tactics. Much like David Teague, Pyke prefers offence, probably a little too much, however, his time with John Longmire, a more defensive focused senior coach, may have influenced his coaching style and shown him how valuable a good defensive system is.
Pyke’s relationship with former Adelaide players like Mitch McGovern and Eddie Betts may also be a negative influence on him becoming the Carlton Coach.
However, it was under his former coach that McGovern played the best football of his career; form that he has been unable to recapture since parting ways with Pyke back in 2018. Perhaps, being coached by Pyke again may bring out the best in the 26-year-old forward? And as for Betts it is unlikely that he will continue after 2021.
Should Carlton move David Teague on at the end of the 2021 season, Don Pyke would be the most ideal replacement. He has the ruthlessness to take Carlton back to the top of the ladder and to premiership success, something the ‘famous old Dark Blues’ have been striving for, over the past twenty-five plus years.
Cozzy
Roar Rookie
Hahahaha thats gold
Willie
Roar Rookie
Many Crows supporters might disagree with your assessment of Don Pyke. He can't by himself be blamed for their GF loss to an emerging giant of a team that would go on to win 3 out of 4. But what I observed about him is a stubborn reluctance to shift his game plan when the opposition defence had figured out how to blunt the Adelaide attack. Similarly, he would leave a player getting thrashed by his opponent in the position for too long. Plan A was great as long as it worked, but there didn't appear to be a Plan B. I would also question the assertion that there is a toughness about Pyke that Teague lacks. A lot of cultural issues that plagued the Crows suggest that senior leadership in the club has lacked firmness and consistency, and of course that wasn't just the senior coach. That said, life is a learning journey, and Don Pyke may have grown as a result of that GF failure and the subsequent melt down of the club. Perhaps like Malcolm Blight he might get the chocolates second time around.
C
Guest
At the start of the year I thought ten wins would be a marker of success. Carlton isn’t there yet but it’s not far away. There’s still work to do on skills and on bribing regular pressure and big questions about why we have been so injury plagued this year. But nothing at all that should result in replacing Teague. We are finally making progress for the first time since Rattan was dismissed. It would be a huge mistake to look (again) for a quick hero and an instant fix. Let’s give Teague a couple more years, try to fix the culture and whatever it is that undermines the physical health and mental approach of our players and settle in for a 17th premiership in 2-3 years. There’s no quick fix. And it’s stupid to trash everything in search of one. And even stupider to replace a coach who’s making progress with a more experienced failure (see Malthouse experiment etc etc)
Wayne Kerr
Guest
:thumbup:
PeteB
Roar Rookie
Yep McGovern played as the sixth forward behind Tex, Jenkins, Lynch, Betts and Cameron. The easiest gig in football. Was and always has been a lazy player. Simply not that good.
pablocruz
Roar Rookie
P.S. Can take a joke but you're not that funny. Not funny at all actually.
Ace
Roar Rookie
I did say previous experience and then had more rough edges taken off at Richmond
AdamDilligafThompson
Roar Rookie
In a way I hope Carlton give Teague his year to run and bring in more experience around him. Carlton seem to of been very quick to pull the trigger over the years and it hasn't helped them, maybe its time to try something different.?
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
Surely Eddie isn’t going to go around again? Carlton are not serious if he does!
Power
Guest
You cant take a joke and instead defend someones poor behavior all while being completely wrong, yeah have a great day, dude. https://www.afl.com.au/news/199109/dustin-martin-apologises-after-restaurant-altercation
Power
Guest
Man you are clueless check the AFL Website article :laughing: Dustin Martin 'deeply embarrassed' after drunken night and chopstick threat Tiger apologises after threatening a woman with a chopstick She said she had noticed a "rather inebriated" Martin drinking shots at the bar and going "in and out of the bathroom". After telling him to reel in his boisterous behaviour, she said the midfielder became aggressive. "He reacted extremely angrily and was very agitated, he began swearing at me and standing over me physically. It was extremely intimidating," she told Channel Seven. "He physically stood over me and held a chopstick above my head and threatened to stab me in the face with the chopstick. "He said, 'Are you going to dob on me?' and I said, 'Well, I will be calling the club on Monday', to which he reacted by slamming his hand next to my head into the wall, which at that point was obviously extremely terrifying." The Tigers said on Monday afternoon Martin's apology to the woman had since been accepted. "Regrettably, I was intoxicated and that in itself is completely unacceptable," Martin said. "I do, however, take responsibility for my behaviour and I am deeply embarrassed. "If anything I have said or done has caused anyone to feel threatened then that is totally inappropriate."
Boo
Guest
Thanks that's why I put the question mark in wasn't sure if I got the name right .
pablocruz
Roar Rookie
Get your facts right, dud(e)! Police investigated that incident. Never happened as you suggest. If Dusty needed a dollar he could have all yours for libel.
Kick to Kick
Roar Rookie
I think you are verballing Leading Teams. The outfit that ran the psycho Crows camp was a mob called Collective Minds. I’ve no close knowledge of Leading Teams but they’ve been invited into 16 AFL clubs and have helped with leadership culture at Sydney, Geelong and Hawthorn. But yes Pyke signed off on a 5th rate and weird rip-off version and that may have marked his card.
Power
Guest
If Don Pyke is the ideal replacement for David Teague then the woman Dusty Martin threatened with a chopstick (while drunk) is the ideal replacement to be playing the mid/forward downhill skier role for Richmond.
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
Didnt seem to go very well at Brisbane
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
McGovern has been unable to recapture his form from the Crows.......what form, the blokes been a spud for his whole career. A very poor man's Brett Burton. Pyke would be a great coach for anyone I think, not sure many coaches want to go to the Blues though, it's a career ender.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
That'd be stupid
Ace
Roar Rookie
I'm inclined to think that Justin Leppitsche is the best candidate out there for any team with a vacancy. Apart from his previous experience coaching his tuition at Richmond would have got rid of the early rough edges and as a speaker I'm sure he would command respect
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
Pies might get him first.